A Collection of Golden Turnips
by super maria
Summary: Harvest Moon Fairy Tales. The stories are based on different HM games, fairy tales and the genres may vary from story to story. Golden Turnip #4: Spirit of the Well.
1. GT1: Chocolate Cake Is My Best Friend

A/N: This story is a collection of Harvest Moon stories (that I made up, of course), all based on fairy tales. Each story will, supposedly, last for a few chapters. By the way, the T rating is only because I think I might have one story that will need it. The first golden turnip, a.k.a. fairy tale, is called 'Wake Me Up Later'. It's based on Animal Parade. I'll say what fairy tale it's based on at the end of the story.

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><p>Golden Turnip #1: Wake Me Up Later<p>

Chapter 1: Chocolate Cake is My Best Friend.

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><p>Once upon a time there was an island ruled by the regal King and Queen, Jake and Colleen. More than anything in the world, they wanted a child, so when the Queen finally gave birth to a baby girl, their joy was unsurpassed.<p>

Queen Colleen regained health quickly and said she wanted to spread the joy she felt to the inhabitants of the island. So everyone was invited to meet the newborn Princess.

And she was called Maya.

All the islanders gathered in the glorious King's castle and said that Maya was just so cute. Even the Wizard who King Jake didn't really trust had showed up due to the invitation, but he was just lingering around the edge of the room.

As all the invited enjoyed the festivities, also known as free food, Queen Colleen sighed with joy that everyone was as happy as herself.

But then, with nothing but a thunderclap and lightning flash across the clear blue sky, the Witch Princess appeared. The King and Queen turned around to see her enter the castle.

"King, Queen, you didn't invite me!" the Witch Princess boomed.

Queen Colleen moved to protect Princess Maya who was lying in her crib a few feet away, but the Witch Princess was faster. In a moment, the Witch Princess stood above the crib, holding Princess Maya in her arms. "Stop right there," the Witch Princess commanded, a malicious sparkle in her eye.

"Since you didn't invite me," she continued, "I'm going to place a curse on your daughter."

From somewhere in the crowd of islanders, there was a gasp.

"No matter how hard or how long your daughter trains for, she will never cook a single meal right!"

For a moment there was awkward silence. Then King Jake saw the Witch Princess was smiling, but not spitefully. And the King realized it was a joke.

The Witch Princess's sense of humor was strange, but at least his daughter was alright. Who cared if she couldn't cook?

The Wizard leapt forward and said, so quickly it seemed unnatural for someone who hardly ever talked, "I'll fix this terrible tragedy, Your Majesty! I can't completely undo the Witch Princess's curse, so I'll just change it. In one hundred years, your daughter will meet a prince, and when they meet, everything she cooks will be perfect! But so she lives for another hundred years, I'm going to have to put her into a deep sleep. And so she has people to look after her when she wakes up, I'll put everyone on the island to sleep as well!"

The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Slowly, the King came to terms with his anger, and shouted, "What have you done! You moron, you fool! What have you done?"

Princess Maya opened her eyes and looked up at the Witch Princess. She could hear her father screaming and she started to laugh.

The Witch Princess felt awkward so she put Maya back in her crib. Just as she did this, King Jake chased Wizard around the room, trying to strangle him.

And then, all of a sudden, he collapsed to the ground, asleep. So did all the other islanders, the Queen and Princess Maya as well.

Only Wizard and the Witch Princess were left awake.

"That has got to be the stupidest thing you've ever done," the Witch Princess said.

"It was an accident!" Wizard replied.

"By the way, a prince? What are they going to do, get married? Ha! How cliché! And if they do get married then consider this; the Princess is still a baby so he'll have to be a baby, or one hundred years old," the Witch Princess pointed out.

Wizard had nothing to say.

And so the terrible curse came to pass. The Wizard and the Witch Princess surrounded the castle with a thicket of vines and shrouded the island in fog, hoping that nobody would come there until the hundred years had passed.

-Rhyme 1-

_With every day and every year,_

_The Princess Maya grows more fair._

_But don't forget, yes, be aware,_

_Maya's still a baby… oh dear…_

-And Then?-

Ninety years have passed since the curse was placed. Inside the King's castle, the Witch Princess waits alone, watching the sleeping fallen.

The Witch Princess hummed to herself, "When Princess Maya at last awakes, the world will adore the food she makes… Or will they?"

The Witch Princess was stunned into silence when the castle's doors burst open.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked the man standing at the door.

"Who are you?" he questioned in reply.

"This is the Kingdom of Castanet. Welcome. I'll tell you more when you tell me who you are," the Witch Princess said.

"The name's Calvin," he said, and was about to say more when he saw the crib the Witch Princess was standing beside. Something inside him drew him towards it, until he standing above Princess Maya.

"Are you a prince, by any chance?" the Witch Princess asked.

Calvin looked at her when he answered, "No, I'm an archeologist."

"Then get out of here. You're ten years too early anyway," the Witch Princess said.

"…What are you talking about?" Calvin asked, and looked back at baby Maya.

Suddenly, Princess Maya opened her eyes, and stared up at Calvin.

"What have you done!" the Witch Princess shouted as Maya gurgled.

"How should I know?" Calvin replied.

Everyone in the castle started to moan and open their eyes.

"I'm so hungry!" King Jake shouted.

The Witch Princess grabbed Calvin's hand and led him outside. And there she explained the curse and everything.

"From what you've told me, I've done nothing wrong," Calvin said after he learnt the story. "The Wizard never said that Maya was supposed to sleep for one hundred years. I think it was destiny that I came here… or something."

"Actually, that explains everything. You must be right," the Witch Princess said after considering it all for a moment.

Suddenly, the King ran up to the Witch Princess and shouted, "Where is that bloody Wizard?"

"It wasn't his fault, really! And he ran away half way into the curse… so that's forty years ago, now? He was worried that when you all woke up, you'd be angry with him, oh, and what a surprise!" the Witch Princess explained.

Queen Colleen followed her husband out of the castle, holding Princess Maya in her arms. She stood next to her husband as he sighed and shook his head.

"And it doesn't matter that much. Everything's exactly the same as it was before the curse… except ninety years have passed. But you'll adapt! Well, I'm not so sure… I don't know how to say this but, you kind of are the King of an island that doesn't really exist anymore… so you won't be considered a King anymore… You're as ordinary as the rest of us, including your daughter…" Calvin mumbled on and on.

"This curse seems more pointless as time goes by… Don't we have to wait ten years until it's actually fulfilled?" the Queen added.

"I know, but I think it's supposed to be like that! Because you're daughter will be ten by then, and she won't be a baby, and all," the Witch Princess said.

And after this, they went back to normal life. Well, they tried to.

It was a little hard, considering they weren't even on any map yet. But Calvin helped them out, and eventually came up with a plan for them all.

They cleaned up the island and made it a tourist attraction! With tales of mystery and adventure on Castanet, the Island Paradise, the tourists flocked there.

A boat route was set up and soon every day, people were coming and going.

King Jake, Queen Colleen and Princess Maya became Jake, Colleen and Maya. And no matter how many times Jake blamed the Wizard; he wouldn't get his life back.

As their lives became routine and the island began to settle, interesting food was brought to the island. And Maya loved to eat them all.

When she was a baby, she loved to stuff her face with creamy cakes. And it didn't change as she got older. She always seemed to have a cake with her, wherever she went.

One day, Colleen noticed that her little daughter… wasn't so little.

"Jake," she said to her husband, "have you noticed it too?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jake replied, sorting through stacks of paperwork, as he was stuck with a lot of the island's business.

"Our daughter… Maya is… kind of chubby," Colleen said.

"I know. I think it makes her even cuter!" Jake said, in a creepy way.

"But she won't just be chubby if she keeps eating like that," Colleen said.

"…I've been thinking about that too. It's just not a good image for a princess, and even though she isn't considered a princess anymore, everyone on the island will know," Jake said. "We have to do something about it."

And so they tried. And tried again. And they kept on trying, but every time they went to tell her to stop eating so much, she was stuffing a cake or a pie into her mouth.

It was too hard to say anything when her face was covered with crumbs and cream.

So they eventually gave up. Just on the day when she was about to start eating a whole lot more…

-Chocolate Cake's My Best Friend-

Maya was playing outside of the castle when it happened. She was about eight years old, when another eight year old that was in her class at school, came up to her.

He was one of the kids who'd come to the island with his family as tourists, and then settled down there. His name was Chase.

"Hey, Maya!" he shouted, and she turned around quickly.

This was because whenever she heard his voice, she thought of food. Chase was a marvelous cook, even though he was still only eight. She started to stare into space, wondering what kind of food he would be eating for dinner.

"Hey, Maya!" Chase repeated.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, what is it?" Maya asked.

"I need a test subject for the new recipes I'm making up. Do you want to eat the prototypes?" Chase asked.

"Wow, you're making up recipes! That's, like, awesome! I'd love to be your test subject!" Maya said. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Anyway, come on over now! I'll start making you something to eat," Chase said and they ran back to his house and were in the kitchen for the rest of the day.

And from then on, Chase and Maya were friends.

Chase enjoyed watching Maya shovel down his food; or rather he enjoyed laughing at how ridiculous she looked. And Maya enjoyed eating his food, but that's no surprise!

As time passed, Maya started to get jealous of Chase. He was such a good cook, and she wanted to be too.

But nobody had ever told her about the curse; she didn't even know she was a princess! Everyone had thought it better to keep it a secret from her.

However, from that day on, she spent so much time in the kitchen, cooking, to no avail, that her parents started to worry. Mostly because they had to eat her food.

And every time she cooked something wrong, Chase laughed heartily at her, which made her angrier and angrier.

"She's eating less but cooking more! At this rate, we'll die of food poisoning!" Colleen said to her husband one day, both of whom were pacing around the room.

"I know what you mean… But what can we do?" Jake asked the empty air.

"It's all Chase's fault. If it wasn't for him she wouldn't have started cooking," Colleen said.

"Yes, but if it wasn't for him, she'd probably end up eating all the food in the world, Colleen," Jake said.

They sat down, feeling exasperated and out of ideas. They hadn't had a good idea to begin with… and still their heads were empty.

"…We could always wait until she turns ten…" Colleen murmured.

"…Because that's when the curse is fulfilled…" Jake mumbled. Then he roared, "Damn that blasted Wizard!"

Maya poked her head into the room. "Did someone mention food?"

-The Princess's Tenth Birthday Is Tomorrow-

The islander's whispered to each other about the next day. Tomorrow exactly one hundred years would come to pass, and their rumors of what would happen on that day spread around the island like wildfire.

The tourists assumed it was all a publicity stunt, and thought they'd set something exciting up for tomorrow. But as the Princess was a part of the island's 'legends,' every year, around this time, more tourists than usual would turn up on the island.

This year was no exception. Jake looked at all the paperwork before him.

"Why was I stuck with this job?" he asked, more to himself than Colleen who was looking through some papers behind him.

"Now this is interesting," Colleen murmured quietly.

"Really? I doubt that," Jake said.

"Darling, listen to this. Out of all the people coming tomorrow… well, one of them… is a prince," Colleen said.

"Are you kidding me?" Jake said, leaping to his feet and staring at his wife.

"No, it's true. And he's ten years old. Coincidence?" Colleen asked.

"I think not," Jake said. They grinned.

-No More Failed Dishes For Us!-

Maya stood at the docks, waiting for the ferry boat to arrive. The day before her birthday, every year, so many people always showed up. She thought they came just for her… and indeed they did! But she didn't know that. She just imagined it.

She loved to see them all, and she always wondered what they were going to eat for dinner… And here they come!

Maya could see the boat in the distance, slowly drawing closer. "What are you doing here?" Chase asked.

Maya jumped. Chase was standing right next to her.

"I come here every year. The day before my birthday. Don't you think it's strange that so many people come on this day, every year?" she said.

"Right, right. I just wanted to say that I'm making some food and you can come and eat it, if you want," Chase said. Of course Maya wanted to.

"But… I wanted to stay and meet the people on the boat," Maya said.

"You can always meet them tomorrow, but that's fine by me," Chase said and started walking away.

Maya looked back at the boat. Then back at Chase. Maya thought about food… and ran over to Chase. He was laughing.

"Why do you always laugh at me?" Maya asked angrily.

Chase said nothing, but just ran to his house, with Maya close behind.

-The Next Day-

"We have to get Maya to meet that Prince today. That's our only mission," Jake said, sorting through another load of paperwork.

"Yes, yes, I know. Ah, we have so much left to do! Maya wants a big birthday party, right?" Colleen said, running all around the room, searching for scissors.

"I don't know. We never asked her. But she is a princess so it's probably in her blood," Jake said. Maya poked her head into the study.

"I really wanted to tell you today that I don't want a party. Birthdays are overrated," Maya said. "WHAAAAAT?" Jake and Colleen shouted.

Maya stared at them with her big blue eyes. "What's up with you?" she said.

"We are having a party! Even if it isn't for your birthday, we're still having a party!" Colleen said.

"…I just wanted to go over and eat cake at Chase's house," Maya mumbled.

"It is his fault!" Colleen shouted.

"What's his fault?" Maya and Jake asked.

"Why do you think you're so fat?" Colleen said.

"I'm fat? Well, I don't care. I'm hungry so see you later," Maya said.

She left the castle. "It's Chase's fault that she eats so much and it's Chase's fault that she tries to cook so much… He's causing so many problems… But after today… No more," Colleen said.

"…You make it sound like you're going to do something," Jake said.

"Well, yeah, we've got to get Chase away from Maya. Then she can be a proper princess," Colleen said.

-At Chase's House-

Chase opened the door. "I thought it would be you," Chase said when he saw Maya.

"My parents are going to have a party, and it's not even for my birthday! Can you believe that?" Maya said, pushing her way past Chase.

"No. Whatever. I was expecting you so here's breakfast," Chase said.

Maya was about to stuff her face when she noticed how quiet it was. She looked around. "Where are your parents?" she asked.

Chase said nothing. Well, he did say, "That doesn't matter. None of it matters. Listen, Maya, I just found something out and… I can never speak to you again."

The next thing Maya knew she was standing outside the house and Chase had slammed the door in her face.

"What about breakfast!" she shouted but she got no reply.

-Meanwhile-

The party Jake and Colleen set up for their daughter's birthday was exactly like the celebration one hundred years ago.

The islanders who had attended the first party noticed this and shared a private joke with the King and Queen. The tourists who came just came for the 'festivities'.

Jake and Colleen waited in the castle for their daughter to return. She came back sooner than they expected, and she was crying.

"What's wrong, dear?" Colleen asked, taking Maya in her arms as if she were a baby again. "It was Chase, wasn't it?"

"H- He kicked me out of his house! Without breakfast!" Maya sobbed.

Jake looked at his wife and whispered, "Did you do something?"

She shook her head, and stroked her daughter's head.

"Don't worry, dear. You can always make new friends! And there are some new kids at your party today. You should meet him- I mean, them," Colleen said.

Maya was worried. She'd never been good at making friends. Her only friend in her entire life had been Chase. Up until two years ago...

"Come with me," Colleen said, and she led her to her own room. There she started to clean her daughter's face of tears. Then she told her a story.

"Once upon a time there was a King and Queen with a beautiful baby daughter. They were all very happy until an evil Wizard stepped forward and cursed them and all of their people to sleep for one hundred years. But at the end of the hundred years, he said, the baby princess would meet a prince, and then she would acquire a skill. The skill to cook anything and end it out a shining masterpiece," Colleen said. Maya looked rather interested when food was brought into the story, as her mother knew she would be.

"Everyone fell into a deep sleep, and the Wizard fled. Ninety years, not one hundred, after the Wizard spoke his curse, someone came and woke them all up. He wasn't a prince, no, he was just a commoner… like you and I. So they all went on living, and the baby princess went on growing, and everybody knew that something special would happen on her tenth birthday…" Colleen waited to see if her daughter noticed.

"…Oh my goddess, look!" she shouted instead, pointing to her bed. There was a package on it, and it smelt of chocolate.

She tore it open and saw the most divine chocolate cake she'd ever seen; better than any she'd seen Chase make, that was for sure.

As she stared at it, her eyes wider than ever before, she remembered something she'd told Chase. "Chocolate cake's my best friend," she had said.

He had laughed at her again, but that time he wasn't being mean… Maya already missed him, even though she'd just talked to him a few minutes ago.

Her bottom lip began to wobble and before Colleen could do anything, she began to cry. Much louder than before. Then she stuffed her face with the chocolate cake.

Colleen was shocked at her daughter's behavior; she was wolfing down the cake much too quickly and was bound to choke, but she was crying so sadly that her mother left her alone.

When she had swallowed it all and wiped her eyes, Colleen said, "You didn't let me even finish. That story I told you is true!"

Maya turned and stared. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"If you don't believe in magic, then you're a fool, Maya. Because you are the princess in that story!" Colleen said.

Maya was stunned. "I… I'm one hundred years old, today!" She looked like she was about to scream.

"Yes, yes. And the whole thing is absolutely true… Maya, today there is a prince at your birthday party. So if you want to be a good cook, today's the day!" Colleen said.

Maya said nothing. The only reason she wanted to be a good cook was to impress Chase… so maybe she could, after today. Maybe.


	2. GT1: Sparkles And Spices

Golden Turnip #1: Wake Me Up Later

Chapter 2: Sparkles And Spices

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><p>"Maya, there are some people who want to meet you," Jake said as he entered the room.<p>

"Who else knows?" Maya asked, rather frightened.

"Know what?" Jake asked and Colleen also looked confused.

"That I'm a Princess," Maya answered.

"You told her?" Jake said, turning his eyes to Colleen, who shrugged. "It was about time anyway. And these people have no idea you're a princess."

Maya was a little curious to know who wanted to meet her, so she went with her parents back into the first hallway in the castle.

Waiting to meet her was a man who towered above her as most adults did and a boy her own age. He was taller than her too, but that was because she was short.

"Let me introduce you. This is the Crown Prince Toby," Jake said, indicating to the boy, who bowed. "And this is his uncle… uh… What was your name again?"

"Ozzie," the tall man said.

"So, uh… his Uncle Ozzie… that would be Prince Ozzie, I assume?" Jake said. He really liked formal titles.

"Anyway, this is Maya, our daughter. You and Prince Toby can go play together, or whatever it is kids do nowadays," Colleen said.

Everyone else walked away, leaving Prince Toby and Maya on their own.

"Where are your parents?" Maya asked suspiciously.

"…I wanted to come to this island, but my parents were too 'busy.' In the end, my uncle had to take me," Prince Toby explained.

Maya was silent. All she could think was _will I be able to cook better now?_

"You're the princess, right?" Toby said.

"Oh my goddess, you do know!" Maya said.

"I just heard about the legends and… wait, really? You're one hundred years old?" Toby asked.

"…Fine, yeah. It's true. I only just found out myself, to be honest," Maya said, sadly.

Prince Toby was just about to say something else, when someone burst through the front doors of the castle.

They all turned to face the doors and saw a young girl with short brown hair.

"It's my stalker!" Toby shouted.

"I'm not stalking you!" the girl shouted back.

Toby laughed, and Maya said, "How'd you know who it was? You didn't even open your eyes."

The girl walked over to Maya and Toby, looking at them both suspiciously. Then she stuck her hand out to Maya and said, "My name's Renee!"

"I'm Maya. So, do you two know each other? Did you come to the island together?" Maya asked.

"No! It was a complete coincidence; **I swear,**" Renee said.

"We don't really know each other. We've met once before we came to the island, once on the boat and once when we found out we're going to be neighbors on this island. We never really talked any of those times, and yet we keep on meeting, again and again…"

After Prince Toby's explanation, there was a long silence.

"I am not stalking you!" Renee shouted again.

"How long are you two staying for?" Maya suddenly asked.

"Well, I don't know about Renee but I assume she'll be here as long as I am. And I want to stay here as long as I can. Teach my parents a lesson," Toby said.

"My parents are here to settle down. We are staying," Renee said, teeth gritted as she glared at Toby.

"Oh, great! So can we be friends?" Maya asked.

Colleen looked over when she heard this and saw the hopeful smile on her daughter's face. At that, she smiled too, and it was not a pleasant smile.

-In The Kitchen-

After a ridiculous conversation and promising to meet Prince Toby and Renee tomorrow, Maya ran into the kitchen, wanting to make something impressive.

Colleen and Jake looked into the kitchen when she was almost done and were delighted to see that it looked good. Well, it didn't look burnt, which was a good sign.

"Here, mother, try it!" Maya said when it was done, handing the plate to her.

Colleen looked at it. It looked good and it wasn't burnt but… Colleen couldn't tell what it actually was. She shrugged and ate a mouthful.

"Don't… eat it, Jake," she said, and went extremely pale.

"What? But… shouldn't it be wonderful?" Maya said.

"…It should be… but it isn't…" Colleen said.

"I don't understand! We introduced you to him; you talked to him for awhile. What does 'meet' mean, then? I bet the Witch Princess would know what's up," Jake said.

"…She's probably laughing… right now… that the Wizard's curse didn't even… work. And her curse is still in play," Colleen said.

"What? What Witch Princess? I thought this whole thing was about a Wizard's curse?" Maya said.

"It is, dear. The Witch Princess has nothing to do with it," Jake said quickly.

"Why are you always… defending her? She's as… much to blame as that… Wizard is," Colleen said.

"She didn't do anything wrong; not really!" Jake said.

"Do I have to be present for my own birthday party? Because I want to go to sleep," Maya said. Her parents looked at her.

"But dear, it's still morning," Colleen said, without a pause at all.

"It's morning? Well, I don't care. I'm sleepy so see you later," Maya said, heading for her room. Jake and Colleen stared at each other.

"You don't think this has something to do with the curse, do you?" Jake asked his wife.

"I have no idea… Maybe it's…" but Colleen never got any further. She just fell silent.

-Z z z-

There was a knock on Maya's bedroom door. She shifted restlessly on her bed.

"Maya, wake up," Colleen called into the room.

"Wake me up later," Maya called back.

"You slept all through yesterday, Maya. That was your birthday! Now get up, lazybones," Colleen said. Maya snored in response. It was very fake and exaggerated, but it bothered Colleen very much.

"Prince Toby and Renee are waiting for you to get up," Jake called.

"They can wait a little longer," Maya said.

"There's a huge cake in the hallway, and nobody knows whose going to eat it!" Colleen said. Maya appeared at the door. "Oh, Maya. Why does that get you up?" Colleen asked.

"You ought to know that that works by now," Maya said with a pout.

She walked straight out of the castle, not even bothering to check if there really was a cake. There, Toby and Renee really were waiting for her.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Maya asked, shielding her eyes from the rising sun.

"There's not much to do here," Prince Toby explained, "so we were going to go and explore the island. Since you're a 'native,' I thought that you should come and show us around."

Maya gulped. She wasn't really the adventurous type. She didn't like to go to most places on the island at all, mainly because her parents told her scary stories about them.

"I was thinking we should go to the mines. That place sounds dangerous," Renee said.

"Uh… Yeah, that's a good idea!" Maya said, trying to sound like she meant it.

"But first, Maya, get dressed," Renee said.

That's when Maya realized that she really had just walked out of the castle without doing anything beforehand. She ran back inside but quickly rejoined her new friends.

-At Garmon Mines-

Maya wasn't too familiar with the Garmon Mine District. She didn't even remember going there ever. She looked around herself nervously all the time.

She was supposed to be leading them all, but where to? And where was this place?

"These are the mines, aren't they?" Renee said when they walked straight up to a cave.

"I… I don't- Oh wait, here's a sign. Yeah, these are the mines," Maya said.

Renee walked in without any further contemplation.

"Wait! How do you know if it's safe?" Maya called into the darkness.

"I thought the whole point of this was that it wasn't safe," Prince Toby said, and then followed Renee into the mines.

Maya was torn. "Don't go in," someone said behind her.

She jumped and turned to see who had spoken.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Calvin's my name. I'm an archeologist," the man said.

Maya felt a little safer, but still kept a distance. "I'm Maya," she said.

"I know. I was there," Calvin said.

"Where?" Maya asked.

"I was there when you woke up. From the spell?" Calvin said, wondering if Maya knew what he was talking about.

"Oh, you're one of the original islanders, are you?" Maya said.

"No. I was the one who woke you up," Calvin said.

"Oh, really! Then… do you have any idea why, even after I met Prince Toby, I can't cook?" Maya asked.

"You mean the spell isn't finished? Well, the Witch Princess would know," Calvin said.

"Who is the Witch Princess? My parents mentioned her, but they won't tell me anything about her," Maya said.

"You ought to know about her but… I don't know where she is. Nobody does. She comes and goes when she wants to. Excuse me a moment," Calvin said and walked into the mines. He came out only a few moments later with Toby and Renee.

"Really?" Prince Toby asked, finishing a conversation he'd been having with Calvin while looking extremely disappointed.

"Stay away from the mines. There's nothing of interest in there for you kids… yet, anyway," Calvin said.

"What does that mean?" Renee whispered to Maya.

"Are you saying we're going to come back here one day?" Maya asked.

"How should I know?" Calvin said.

"Hey, let's go down to Flute Fields. We can play tag there," Renee said.

Tag sounded a lot safer than the mines, so Maya agreed. Calvin watched them run away, murmuring something about mysteries and magic to himself.

-Sparkles And Spices-

"Tag! You're it!" Renee shouted. She'd been chasing Toby and Maya for ages, and finally managed to catch Maya.

They were all out of breath, but all ready to start running again. Maya stood where she was for a moment, wondering who to chase after.

She heard her stomach growl for lunch, and decided to end this quickly. She ran to the left and then swerved to the right; she raced around in circles until she finally managed to grab Toby's collar.

He fell over. "Ouch," he said.

"…Are you okay, Toby?" Maya asked, kneeling down beside him.

"Of course I am," he said, but as he tried to get up, Maya elbowed him in the stomach. "Okay, maybe not anymore."

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Maya said, waving her arms around frantically.

When Maya elbowed Prince Toby in the stomach, he opened his eyes, which he hadn't done in a very long time. And then, as she said sorry, their eyes met, for the first time.

Renee came running over. "What the heck is that," she shouted.

Because above Maya and Toby, starry sparkles fell to the ground around them like snowflakes. Maya couldn't stop staring at Toby's eyes, since this was the first time she'd ever seen them. She felt her face getting hot as it grew redder and redder.

She was sure that this was the moment that the spell was complete. It had to be.

Suddenly, she realized Renee was laughing at her.

Maya stood up and shouted, "Why are you laughing at me?"

"You're blushing, Maya. Your face is so red!" Renee said. She tried talking calmly, but the moment she looked at Maya she started laughing again.

Toby stood up, finally, and said, "But what is this stuff?" He held his hand out and the sparkles started to pile up in the palm of his hand.

Maya thought about what to call it, and then said, "Its magic!"

There was silence for a moment and then Renee started laughing again.

"I have to go home and try something out now. Uh…" Maya felt a bit awkward. She was planning to run off and leave them there, but that seemed too rude.

She looked around, trying to find an excuse, and yelped when she saw Chase standing in one of Marimba Farm's fields.

Prince Toby and Renee looked at Chase and then back at Maya, but by then she was already running home. "…I wonder who he is," Renee said.

Maya got home quickly, considering she ran without a break the whole way. She ran into the kitchen and started baking a chocolate cake. All she could think about on the way home was the chocolate cake she'd eaten the day before, and wanted to make one even better than it.

Colleen and Jake looked into the kitchen, feeling very worried. "Do we have to eat it?" Jake asked.

"If you eat this cake then I'll never forgive you!" Maya shouted.

"Thank goodness," Colleen sighed.

"But why?" Jake persisted. "Who are you making it for?"

"Who do you think?" Maya replied.

Colleen and Jake had no idea. When Maya was just sitting at the oven, waiting for the cake to bake, there was a knock at the door.

She ignored it. "Maya, there's someone here to see you," Colleen said, in a spiteful way.

First Maya thought it must be Toby and Renee. But then she opened the door and gasped.

"…Oh my goddess, you have perfect timing!" she shouted with glee.

Chase was standing there, with the same indifferent expression as yesterday.

Maya ran back into the kitchen and heard the timer go 'brriiiing!' Then, a few moments later, she ran back into the hallway with the chocolate cake.

"Come on, Chase! Eat it!" Maya said.

Chase didn't look like he wanted to. "Do I have to? I just came to…" Chase looked at the expression on Maya's face. "Okay, fine."

Chase ate the tiniest slice of the cake he could manage to take. Then his face fell and he went pale.

"Huh? I was so sure…" Maya mumbled. Colleen and Jake feared that Chase was sick.

"This… has made it impossible for me to say what I came to say," Chase said, and left the castle. Maya was saddened.

She started eating her own cake, without caring if it was edible or not. She was surprised to find that it tasted delicious.

"Oh my goddess! This is the best cake ever! It's true! The spell's over… but why did Chase run away then?" Maya asked.

She stood up and let the cake fall to the floor. "NO!" Colleen and Jake shouted. They really wanted to know what a perfect quality, no, better than perfect quality cake tasted like. And now it was on the floor.

Then they noticed that Maya was crying. Again. She ran to her room and fell onto her bed, sobbing. Colleen poked her head into the room.

"Are you okay, dear?" Colleen asked.

"I tried so hard! I t-thought Chase would b-b-be impressed! But he just ran away!" Maya sobbed. Colleen stood at the door for awhile, listening to her daughter cry.

But by the time she entered the room, her daughter was asleep.

"Are you kidding me?"

-Rhyme 2-

_Things will get better, little girl._

_Stop your crying and face the world._

_Clean your face of cream and cake._

_Here begins your life awake._

-What next?-


	3. GT1: Your Eyes Dance Like Butterflies

Golden Turnip #1: Wake Me Up Later

Chapter 3: Your Eyes Dance Like Butterflies

* * *

><p>Seven years of eating, seven years of cooking. Seven years of sleeping, and seven years of waiting. Maya and her friends are seventeen years old!<p>

Ever since she tasted her very own chocolate cake, after Chase had run away, Maya stopped eating cakes and pies. She stopped eating a lot. In some ways, Jake and Colleen were pleased, but sometimes they were worried.

Maya would cook food for all special occasions, and dinner for many people every night. Since no matter what she cooked was perfect, she saw no reason not to.

She slept a whole lot more. She slept in late and she went to bed early.

And she also waited. Maya waited for something else to happen. Somehow, in her bones, she just knew that the spell couldn't end there. Not with her tearstained face and a half-eaten cake.

And once again, after these seven long years had passed, Jake and Colleen were pacing around the room, wondering what to do next.

"We have to do something about it! It's so obvious! It has to happen," Colleen murmured angrily.

"I know it's obvious. But nobody else notices. How can… Should we set it up?" Jake asked his wife, who was more frustrated than him.

"We should talk to his mother and his uncle. They'll decide whether it sounds right or not. And they should surely understand," Colleen said.

So that day, Jake and Colleen paid a visit to Prince Toby's uncle and mother. After awhile, around his twelfth birthday, Toby convinced his parents to let him stay on the island. But they decided that his mother would go and tutor him.

So Toby's father, the King, was left to rule his kingdom alone.

"Come in!" Ozzie said when Jake and Colleen turned up at the door.

"Okay, but we have something important to discuss, so let's get right to the matter," Jake said as he and his wife entered the grand house.

Jake and Colleen then explained to Prince Ozzie and the Queen that Maya was really a princess. They explained the curse and everything else.

"You can't really expect us to believe that!" the Queen said.

"It's true. And ever since Maya's tenth birthday… we've been thinking about marriage. It seems like destiny that those two should get married!" Colleen said.

"I still don't believe you," the Queen said.

"…What if they like each other? What if they want to get married?" Jake suggested.

"…Well, in that case, I have no problem with it! But you'd have to get proof," the Queen said.

"Then I guess it's up to me," Colleen said, taking a camera out of her pocket.

"Colleen, are you going to spy on them and take photos of them? That's so irresponsible! And you're acting like a private investigator or something," Jake said.

"That doesn't matter. I'll come back here with proof, Your Majesty," Colleen said.

Then she dragged her husband from the house.

-Flute Fields, Horn Ranch-

Prince Toby and Maya sat in silence, staring out over the fields filled with cows and sheep. "I wonder…"

"What?" Maya asked.

"I just came here without thinking. Why do you think Renee told us to come here?" Toby asked Maya.

Maya shrugged. She didn't really think about it either.

"Hey, you two lovebirds! I'm here," Renee called from behind them.

Maya turned around, trying not to blush but she knew she reddened so easily.

"So why are we here?" Toby asked.

"I hate my parents!" Renee answered, and sat down beside Maya.

"What have they done this time?" Maya asked.

"They arranged my marriage! I thought that was something people only did centuries ago," Renee grumbled.

"Not necessarily. Especially when it comes to royalty," Maya said, but then went pink and looked at Toby.

"You're only seventeen, though!" Toby said, hardly noticing Maya's comment.

"I know! Well… Actually, I'm going to get married after my eighteenth birthday… But I still can't believe it! And guess who it is," Renee said. Before they could say anything, Renee shouted, "It's Chase!"

There was silence. Renee waited patiently for their responses.

Maya went redder than before, but this time she was angry. "I can't believe that!" she shouted.

"Yeah, I hardly know him! Why do my parents want me to marry him anyway?" Renee pondered.

"I'm sure there's a reason… but aren't you glad it's Chase?" Toby said.

Renee looked at him curiously and she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well… It could've been…" Toby trailed off. They all knew who he meant.

"Luke!" they all said at the same time, laughing a little.

They didn't dislike Luke or anything, but it just had to be said. Renee agreed that maybe Chase wasn't so bad.

But still, Maya was angry. And jealous. Of Renee…?

Maya went bright red when she thought about the possibility that she might just have a little-really-major-huge-tiny crush on Chase.

Which confirmed that she definitely did.

-Home Again-

Maya walked through the castle doors and was immediately met by her mother.

"You're home! At last!" Colleen said, cheerfully. This made Maya suspicious.

"…What is it? Is someone hungry and they want me to cook them something?" Maya asked.

"Oh, dear little Maya, your father and I love you! We don't just think of you as our cook," Colleen said, making Maya even more suspicious.

"What is going on?" Maya growled.

Colleen looked absolutely motherly and kind but after a moment, her face fell and she looked maliciously cruel. Then she said, "Okay, dear, I'll tell you. I want you to get married to-"

"Not me too!" Maya shouted.

"…Oh yeah, I heard that Renee and Chase are engaged," Colleen said.

"And I bet you just love that, don't you?" Maya said, still growling despite herself.

"I'm just glad he doesn't bother you anymore. He did make you cry a lot when you were younger. Anyway, as I was saying, I want you to get married to Prince Toby since-"

Colleen was interrupted again when Maya shouted, "Mother! Why him?"

"Because… Oh, surely you can guess," Colleen mumbled nervously.

"It's because of the spell, isn't it?" Maya grumbled.

Colleen continued, "Yes! Anyway, I need proof that you two like each other and-"

"You want me to frame affection so that I can marry a boy I don't even want to marry?" Maya was almost shrieking at this point.

"I'm sick of this. Colleen, stop it," Jake said, and as he entered the room it was obvious to Maya that he'd been eavesdropping.

"Thank you, father," Maya said, sighing with relief.

"Now, tell me Maya… Why not?" Jake asked.

"…You agree with mother?" Maya asked.

"Before the curse, I was a King. And now I'm just an ordinary man living one hundred years out of his time. But if you marry Prince Toby then… It's the best life I can offer you, that's all," Jake explained.

"I'm still only seventeen!" Maya shouted.

"…You're almost eighteen, dear," Colleen said.

Maya sighed deeply and muttered, "I… can't believe… this…"

She walked silently past her mother and father and straight into her room where she brooded, face planted into a pillow.

"Onto plan two then," Colleen said.

"Huh? What's that?" Jake asked, rather hoping that the matter would just end there.

"I'll have to spy on them… and hope that they really do like each other," Colleen said.

"This is getting a bit out of hand… darling," Jake said.

"She's going to marry that prince and that's the end of that!" Colleen shouted.

"…You seem a little… if you don't mind me saying so… evil," Jake said.

"How dare you!" Colleen shouted and stormed out of the castle.

Maya sat in her room, hearing their argument clearly, knowing that they knew she could hear them. She sighed, trying to stop thinking about marriage and love, but it was hard when everyone around you seemed to be talking about it.

What about the spell? She knew it couldn't end yet… but maybe…

What if she was supposed to marry Toby? Maybe that was how the spell was supposed to end? She still wished she could find the Witch Princess. She still wondered who the Witch Princess was every time she went to sleep.

She still had a faint memory… of a woman with silver hair and red eyes standing over her when she was just a baby…

The next thing Maya knew she was waking up to someone knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Get up, Maya. It's time for school," Colleen called.

"Already? I don't remember going to sleep… Oh well," Maya said, and got ready for another day.

-Marimba Farm-

Maya was at Marimba Farm, standing outside of Chase's house. Why was she there?

Renee was coming, and she wanted Maya to support her when she talked to her new fiancée.

Maya stood outside the door, waiting for Renee, knowing her face was pink.

"Sorry I'm late! Again," Renee said, bounding down the hill towards Maya.

"That's okay. I had things I needed to work out on my own anyway," Maya said, even though her problems were still unsolved.

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to turn up," Renee said.

"What? Why?" Maya asked, too quickly.

"…Never mind. Let's just go in," Renee said.

Maya walked towards the door but stopped when she noticed Renee wasn't moving. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"…I'm really nervous… I mean, it's summer! When fall comes around, and after my birthday, I'm going to be getting married to this guy! It's… daunting," Renee mumbled.

"It'll be okay," Maya said, but she knew she didn't sound convincing.

Renee sighed heavily and walked forward.

She knocked sharply on the door and waited. The door opened a moment later.

Chase stood there, silent. He looked at Renee nervously and then glared at Maya.

Renee looked at her feet and said, "I… I… Maya, say something!"

"Huh?" was Maya's response. Then she just stared awkwardly at Chase.

"Come in," Chase said. He sounded exactly the same as the day Maya heard his voice last. Indifferent.

This made Maya nervous as memories resurfaced but Renee was already dragging Maya into Chase's house.

Maya yelped quietly. The place looked exactly like it did the last time she'd been there. She felt like a little girl again, and stood there helplessly.

The silence dragged on until Chase finally said, "So do you know why your parents want us to marry?"

"You don't know either?" Renee asked. He shook his head. "What about your parents?" Renee asked.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you?" Chase said, his tone cold and his expression colder.

"What?" Renee asked and Maya was curious though she tried not to show it.

"My parents are dead," he said.

"…When did that happen?" Maya shouted. Chase looked at her like she was something very unpleasant. "It was on my tenth birthday, wasn't it?" Maya said.

Chase was silent for awhile and then he nodded.

Maya continued, "That still doesn't explain-"

"Get out of here, Maya!" Chase shouted.

Maya huffed and started storming out when Renee grabbed her hand. "Don't leave me, Maya!" she called.

Maya stopped and turned to see Chase take Renee's hand from Maya's. Maya felt very jealous but before she could do anything, Chase shut the door in her face.

She pounded her fists on the door and shouted, "Let me back in! Let me back in!"

"Shut up, Maya!" Chase shouted. Maya growled and walked away.

-Let's Go To Horn Ranch-

"I have to talk to someone. Let's go to Horn Ranch, Toby," Maya said.

She walked straight into his house and into his room, without caring what he was doing there, or whether he was there at all.

Prince Toby was lying on his bed, day dreaming, but when Maya came in, he got up.

"Why? Can't you just talk t- Hey!" Toby was already being dragged to Horn Ranch by Maya, who was not in a mood to be messed with.

They sat down in the same place as last time. "…So what is it?" Prince Toby asked.

"It's Renee…" Maya mumbled.

"What did she do?" Toby asked.

"She… she's just…" Maya looked over to Toby, but then quickly looked away. She couldn't help but blush every time she looked at Toby, ever since her parents had told her she should marry him.

"Butterfly?" Toby said.

Maya looked over to the prince. Butterfly was his pet name for Maya. She absolutely hated it; because she didn't understand why he called her that.

He usually called her butterfly when she was angry or sad. Ever since he'd returned to the island after his twelfth birthday had he called her that.

Maya was sick of it. "Why do you call me that?" she demanded.

"Your eyes dance like butterflies," he responded.

"Huh?"

"You know the day we met? You looked around the place so nervously and your eyes were shifting all the time. And every time your eyes dance like that, I think _your eyes dance like sky blue butterflies,_" Prince Toby said.

Maya blushed again. "Oh. You were just romantically describing my eyes," she said.

After a moment of silence, she shrieked. In her mind, at least. _Romantically__ describing? Why of all things had she said that?_

She slowly turned her head back to Toby. He looked as embarrassed at being confronted by such words as much as she felt.

They were both silent, but that didn't make it better. Maya, in a moment of desperation, started to look around for an excuse. She seemed to do this a lot when faced with a difficult decision.

That's when she saw it; her mother was hiding in a bush, watching them with a camera.

Oh, could the situation get anymore embarrassing? As everyone knows, it always can.

Before Maya could say anything about her mother and totally destroy the mood, Prince Toby finally worked up the courage to lean over and kiss her.

But he was sitting too far away and fell over. Maya didn't do anything about that; she was too distracted by the fact that Toby had just tried, and failed, to kiss her.

And then, to top it all off, someone else was watching their 'private' conversation. An unfamiliar woman with silver hair and red eyes…

"…Come… to the forest…" said a very familiar voice in her head and Maya knew that this was the strange silver haired woman's voice… and she was the Witch Princess.

And just like that, the witch was gone.

She didn't even get a chance to ponder this. She looked back to Toby who had gotten up and moved closer to her.

"I… Can I kiss you?" he asked.

Maya almost wanted to say, "Why right now?" But for some reason, unknown to herself, she said, "Okay."

Snap. Colleen got the picture she wanted.

-Home Again, Again-

Maya entered the castle, her face redder than the Witch Princess's eyes.

"Congratulations!" her father said when he saw her.

"Huh? What are you so happy about?" Maya asked, feeling as though she ought to be happier at a time like this.

"When you turn eighteen, you're getting married!" Jake answered.

"What? How come I didn't know?" Maya shouted in question.

But then she saw her mother and Prince Toby's mother enter the room from the kitchen.

They were having a pleasant conversation about flowers but went silent when they saw Maya. "Oh, I really am so happy for you two!" the Queen said.

"Does Toby even know about this?" Maya asked.

"Are you going to object too?" the Queen asked. "Don't worry. Neither of you have a say in this matter. Ha, ha! Just kidding!"

But by the way her mother and Toby's mother chattered on, it didn't seem like they had a say in the matter.

"Father, please don't let this happen," Maya said, walking right up to her father and putting her head on his shoulder. Even a tear fell from her eye.

"…Maya, this is the best chance you have. I don't want to wait too long and then… something bad happens to you," Jake said. His eyes looked helpless.

"This isn't fair! I still want to live my life! I…" Maya shouted but realized it was no use.

Her mother didn't even glance at her when she shouted.

Maya growled and stormed into her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed, burying her face into a pillow.

She stayed there, awake, until night fell. Then she wondered…

-Rhyme 3-

_Silver hair and eyes of red,_

_Here she stands above my bed._

_Why does she feel like my missing half?_

_Should I enter the forest and stray the path?_

-Until Next Time-


	4. GT1: Confessions And Chocolate

Golden Turnip #1: Wake Me Up Later

Chapter 4: Confessions And Chocolate

* * *

><p>Maya sneaked out of the castle when she was sure everyone was asleep. The thought of what lay in wait for her in Fugue Forest was far too exciting to sit and think about.<p>

She walked slowly and quietly all the way to Flute Fields so that she didn't draw anyone's attention.

Soon she was standing in front of the gate that led to the forest. It was unlocked, as though someone was waiting for her within. She walked in.

Maya had been afraid of places like this all her life so she always tried to stay as far away from Fugue Forest as she could. And now she was going through its maze.

After she'd gotten sick of the chirping crickets, which were the only sounds in the silent forest, she finally came across a clearing.

There she met someone. It was Luke.

Maya didn't like to talk to Luke; it was just too awkward. Especially after she'd laughed about him the other day with her friends.

But then she wondered why Luke would come to the forest in the middle of the night. "What are you doing here at this time of night?" Maya asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said and suddenly Maya thought that Luke might not just be the simple carpenter she had first assumed.

"…I'll see you around," she said, and walked deeper into the forest.

As Maya walked further and further away from Luke and deeper and deeper into the forest, she couldn't help but feel that the forest really was moving around her.

Once she was sure she'd gone around in a circle, but the place ahead didn't look familiar. Then she'd turned around and the place behind her had changed as well!

She walked onwards anyway, never stopping to take a look at her surroundings.

A swamp. And a tree. And a house beside it. That was what awaited her in the clearing ahead. Even though it frightened her, she stepped to the door and was just about to knock when…

The door flung open.

"Welcome!" a cheerful voice called to her from within the bright room.

And from nowhere, the Witch Princess appeared.

Maya said, without a thought, "You're the Witch Princess, right! Well then-"

"Hold on a moment, little girl. I was preparing for your arrival so just take your time. I even went to all the trouble to bake a cake for you," the Witch Princess said. She didn't look like she'd had a pleasant time doing this.

A cake floated into the room and Maya was taken aback. "I don't want any cake. I'm just here to get some questions answered," Maya said.

"Don't worry. You'll get your appetite back soon enough, dear little Maya," the Witch Princess said kindly.

"…For some reason I feel like you're acting out of character," Maya said.

"What does that mean?" the Witch Princess asked.

"I don't really know. I mean, I've never met you before so how could I know. Anyway, can you tell me something? Tell me the truth about the curse. I know my parents lied to me," Maya said.

"Well… where do I begin? It was a long time ago… I remember Wizard telling me about it and I was annoyed that I didn't get an invitation… then again, not many people knew about me and nobody but Wizard knew where I lived. I decided to drop in and have a little fun. When I got there I put a curse on you," the Witch Princess said.

"You what?" Maya shouted.

"I said that no matter what, you would never be able to cook anything right. It was a joke! But then Wizard had to go and try and fix it… he's terrible at that kind of thing. Well, actually he isn't. He was just stupid this one time. See, he tried to fix it by putting everyone on the island to sleep for one hundred years. Then he ran off fifty years later. **I **was left to take care of you all. I had to make sure nobody came to the island and…" the Witch Princess shuddered. "I had to do other things… It's so disgusting, don't let me remember it! Anyway, Calvin came and woke you up ten years early. That's about it."

"That's all?" Maya asked.

"I guess so… Well, you had to have been there to understand. Actually, you were there…" the Witch Princess murmured.

"Then how come I feel… like the spell isn't done yet? And how come I feel like I know you?" Maya asked.

"You what?" this time it was the Witch Princess to ask this question.

"I remember your face so clearly… Why?" Maya asked.

The Witch Princess thought about this. And then she leapt towards Maya, arms outstretched. "I knew it, I knew it!" the Witch Princess said as she hugged Maya.

"What are you doing?" Maya shouted.

"I looked after you for ninety years! After all that time… I kind of felt you were my own daughter… I hated taking care of you at the start, but after ninety years… I so wish I could adopt you!" the Witch Princess said, smiling with joyful tears in her eyes.

"…Uh. That's weird. But I must admit, you'd be a better mother than my own… Anyway, I came here to find something totally different out!" Maya shouted.

"Oh, yeah, the spell… I'm afraid that might've been me. I was looking out for you, even after you woke up, you see. I was worried about you, back when you were ten," the Witch Princess said.

"…Because I cried so much over Chase?" Maya asked.

"Not really. I had another reason to worry. Actually, I kind of felt sorry for Chase too… Ahem, anyway, a few days ago, Wizard came back! Finally! He returned and we talked about things and he laughed at me and I found out some stuff… and after that I just knew I had to talk to you," the Witch Princess explained.

"About what?" Maya asked.

"You're not supposed to end up with Toby," the Witch Princess said firmly. She stared into Maya's eyes as she said this, to make sure she got the message.

"…Then who? I mean, there is someone else, right?" Maya asked. She could even feel her face getting hot as she thought about who it could be.

"Are you dense? It's Chase!" the Witch Princess shouted.

Maya went totally red. Deep down inside, this was what she'd wanted to hear. She knew now, she could finally admit it to herself, that she didn't just have a little-really-major-huge-tiny crush on Chase. She was absolutely, totally and completely in love with him. Ever since she'd first met him.

"A- Are you sure?" Maya asked.

"Yes. Definitely," the Witch Princess answered.

"But what about Renee? She's the one who is supposed to get married to him!" Maya said.

"She's not the one who's 'supposed' to marry him. She's the one who is marrying him. But, hopefully, she won't be for long," the Witch Princess said, with a knowing smile on her face.

Maya wasn't too sure if she trusted the Witch Princess that much. Renee was her friend…

"Ha, ha, I'm sure everything will work out just fine, dear," the Witch Princess said, leading Maya to the door.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Maya asked.

"I'm sending you home, little girl," the Witch Princess said.

"But what about-"

"Everything will work out just fine."

And with that, the Witch Princess pushed Maya out the door and she was suddenly standing outside her home.

Wondering fearfully what was going to happen, Maya sneaked back to her room and fell asleep at once.

-The Next Day-

Maya woke up to hear birds singing instead of a harsh knock on her bedroom door. It was a pleasant difference.

But soon after she woke from her peaceful sleep, the door to her room burst open and her mother crashed to the floor.

"What is it, mother?" Maya asked sleepily, the thoughts of marriage to Toby already coming to her mind.

"Someone's here to see you, dear… It's, uh… Oh, come and see for yourself," Colleen said. The way she was talking interested Maya, so she followed her into the hallway.

There was Chase, all by himself. He looked very nervous. Maya felt very nervous the moment she saw him, remembering what the Witch Princess had said.

"What are you doing here?" Maya asked, talking impolitely to hide her emotions.

Chase tried to stammer something but gave up and reached for something in his pocket. Before he could pull it out, however, the doors to the castle burst open.

Renee skipped cheerfully in and stood beside Chase. She was followed by Prince Toby, and then both his parents, the King and Queen. Prince Ozzie trailed in after them.

They stood grandly beside Renee and Chase.

And then the Witch Princess strode in. "What the hell?" Maya said to her.

"I really wanted to do this with nobody in the room… oh well," Chase said, and pulled a slice of chocolate cake out of his pocket. How he'd managed to fit it into his pocket, nobody knew and nobody questioned.

"Is this it?" Maya asked, taking the cake without enthusiasm.

"Not exactly," Chase mumbled.

Jake and Colleen walked over to stand behind Maya. "So why'd you come here?" Maya asked.

"It's… really complicated. And it's long. But I have to tell you," Chase said. He turned his gaze to the group beside him. Even Luke was standing at the end. "Okay, why the heck are you here?" Chase asked, pointing him out so everyone stared.

"He's here with me," the Witch Princess said, but nothing more.

"…So you know the Witch Princess?" Maya asked Luke.

"Okay, okay, who cares! I have to tell you this now," Chase said quickly. "You know how my parents died on your tenth birthday? Well, when Pascal came and told me they were dead, he also told me about the spell you were under and all that. Since it was your tenth birthday, he thought I should know, especially considering I was your only friend. Damn, why did he tell me?"

"So… the reason you said you couldn't talk to me ever again was because I was… under a spell? A princess? What?" Maya asked.

"Maybe it was because you were one hundred years old," the Witch Princess suggested.

"It wasn't really any of those. To be honest, I thought that after you could cook for yourself, you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore," Chase said.

"How pathetically sweet," Renee said.

"Whatever. Anyway, it seemed easier to send you away and be totally alone than have you abandon me," Chase said.

"You're right. This is kind of weird with all of us in the room," Prince Toby said.

"The story isn't over! This is the embarrassing part…" Chase said. He looked over to Renee who was waiting to hear what he had to say next. Then he looked at Toby who didn't really seem like he cared what happened next.

"Okay, I'll say it," Chase continued. "Maya, I… Ever since I first met you I had a crush on you. And then, when I saw you with Renee, after those seven years, I realized that I still liked you…"

And then, bluntly, Chase said, "Actually, I love you."

"Oh my goddess, you too?" Maya said.

"Huh?"

"Yesterday I realized that I loved you! What a coincidence," Maya said.

"You don't really believe in coincidences anymore, do you?" the Witch Princess said. "Oh, and come on! How boring. Love at first sight?"

"Anyway, Maya, I wanted to know if… sorry, Prince Toby, but would you marry me instead?" Chase asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Jake and Colleen shouted.

"…I want to marry you but my parents…" Maya mumbled.

Toby and Renee looked at each other.

"So we're both single again?" Toby said. There was silence.

"I'll tell you if I like you or not if you tell me what you think of me," Toby said.

"Hmmm… You go first," Renee said.

"No, you first," Toby replied.

"No, you go first." "No, you." "No, you." "No, you."

"Well, I'm glad that worked out," Chase said, turning his attention to Maya's fuming parents.

"I thought that you just wanted me to be happy, father," Maya said.

"Okay, I admit I lied about that," Jake said.

Maya squealed. The Witch Princess stepped forward at this point and said, "Well, I give you my blessing."

"What? What does that change?" Colleen asked angrily.

"She's… my godmother!" Maya said.

"Really?" Chase asked.

"No!" Jake and Colleen shouted.

"Oh, please. I might as well be Maya's real mother. I, at least, know what's best for her," the Witch Princess said. She glared at Colleen, who glared right back.

"This is ridiculous! Why won't you accept me?" Chase asked Maya's parents.

The argument between Chase and Maya's parents, and the side argument between Toby and Renee, went on until Maya shouted, "I don't care what any of you have to say! I'm getting married on the 24th of Autumn and that's final!"

"…That's your birthday, dear," Colleen pointed out.

"That's right! I'll be exactly eighteen years old!" Maya said.

"Actually, you'll be one hundred and eight," the Witch Princess whispered.

"Would you stop bringing that up?" Maya shouted.

Then Maya took Chase's hand in hers and said, "You better get a blue feather by then."

-Wedding Day-

"Wake up, Maya," Renee said, trying to shake her friend awake.

"Wake me up later," Maya moaned.

"I can't. Today's your wedding and you're already late as it is!" Renee shouted.

Maya's eyes shot open at this and she leaped out of bed.

When she'd gotten dressed into her wedding gown, she and Renee rushed to Marimba Farm, where her wedding was to be held.

"Sorry I'm late!" Maya said as she stumbled through the fields of pumpkin. "Oh wait, aren't I supposed to come in on a cue?"

Renee dragged her back to the gate leading to the little shrine area (nobody could work out its purpose), and she walked down the path, made up like an aisle, with her father.

Jake still looked like he wanted to stop this wedding, but he stayed silent.

The Witch Princess was acting as minister, which she didn't really understand.

'There is no minister on the island,' was Maya's best excuse.

Almost, for a moment, it seemed like their little wedding would perfect…

And then an unexpected visitor showed up.

"Have I been forgiven yet?" the Wizard asked.

Jake's eyes widened and twitched. "I'm going to kill you!" he shouted, and was only held back by the forceful glare of his wife.

"Actually, Wizard, I want to thank you!" Maya said cheerfully, looking over to Chase who stood beside her.

"I knew it would all work out!" Wizard said happily.

"I'm going to kill you!" Jake shouted, and this time his wife couldn't keep him back.

Wizard ran away with Jake right behind him.

"Wait. Before you skip the whole ceremony I want to say something. Chase, as long as you bake me a cake every day from now on, I'll stay by your side," Maya said.

"Okay, Maya. As long as you promise to eat every cake I bake from now on, I'll stay by your side," Chase replied.

"I swear."

"Those have got to be the weirdest vows ever," Prince Toby said.

He turned to his side to see Renee sniffing. "So… sweet," she said.

"…Anyway, did you ever find out why your parents wanted you to marry Chase?" Toby asked Renee.

"…Probably because he's so sweet. But really I never asked," Renee said.

"Okay, okay, before we continue the wedding, I have an interruption of my own," the Witch Princess said. "Maya, I… I repeated the curse."

"What?" Maya asked.

"The curse I put on you when you were born. You'll never be able to cook anything now… Just trust me on this one," the Witch Princess said.

Suddenly, an out of breath Wizard ran into the clearing.

"Can't we just get on with this?" Maya said, half to herself.

And then, just as Jake was about to catch up with Wizard, Luke jumped out of nowhere.

"Stop right there!" he shouted, holding his axe threateningly.

"…Okay, who are you exactly?" Maya asked.

But then she turned and looked back into Chase's eyes… and she didn't care anymore. She didn't care about Luke and her father and the Wizard. She didn't even care about the wedding guests. From now on, it was just her and Chase.

And after that, there were no interruptions. Well, none that Maya noticed.

-Rhyme 4-

_Princess Maya, at last she smiles._

_Here begins her next life, whilst_

_I stand by, red eyes and silver hair._

_My dear Maya, did you even notice it was me saying all these rhymes?_

-"And we all lived absolutely, totally, utterly, completely-" "Get to the point, Maya." "Happily Ever After!"-

THE END.

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #1 is Sleeping Beauty.<p>

My comment on this story: I like Chase and Maya but I don't like them together. So why did I write this?


	5. GT2: Bedtime Tale

A/N: I came up with this idea a day after I finished the first story and planned the first chapter out pretty quickly but was unable to write the sentences down. Apologies! My aim for this one is to not make it a romance, but I am likely to fail at that...

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #2: Mineral Farm<p>

Chapter 1: Bedtime Tale

* * *

><p>Once there was a blacksmith who had very little business and only had enough money to feed him and his son once a day.<p>

One day, when his son was still a young child, he said, "Gray, my son, I want to tell you a story. It's rather long so you might fall asleep before I finish."

The blacksmith's son, Gray, who loved stories of all kinds, said he wouldn't fall asleep.

His father nodded and continued, "Before I start the story there is something I need to say. This story is about your mother."

"My… mother?" Gray questioned and though he tried not to look it, he was even more interested.

"Yes. Also, this is a story that was recorded down in the format of a fairy tale since it's the closest thing to a fairy tale that's ever happened in this country," the blacksmith said.

"What a strange thing to say…" Gray thought, having no idea what his father was trying to tell him.

"Let me just begin the tale," his father said, and then he began.

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess whose father had died many years ago."

Before he said any more, Gray interrupted his father by saying, "Was my mother a princess?"

"Shhhhhhhut up," his father replied and then continued the story. "Her name was Claire. Claire, at birth, had been promised to a prince in a far away country. Now that she was grown up, she was going to him. She traveled there by horse and only her maidservant came with her. However, nobody knew that her maidservant was really a witch, because she was so young and innocent. The witch's name was Popuri. As the two of them were riding to the prince's country, the sun began to set and they decided to stop at the inn they were passing before night fell. They were enjoying themselves when Popuri said to the Princess that she should take her pendant. It was shaped like a heart and Claire had admired it from afar. She was only too happy to take it. When the princess had tied the pendant around her neck, Popuri laughed and told her that she was really a witch. Then she said that if she, or anyone else, tried to take the pendant off of Claire, then the princess's own heart would stop beating and she would die. And then she said that if Princess Claire told anyone about anything she had just said, then her heart would stop beating anyway. 'Where we're going, nobody knows what we look like. From now on** I'm **going to be the princess. I'll marry the prince and you'll be nobody,' Popuri said. And Claire couldn't do anything about it.

The next morning they continued on their way and arrived at the prince's country not too long afterwards. There was great rejoicing at their arrival but the prince was not there to meet them. At that moment, the prince was watching them from a castle window and for that moment, he thought he might've fallen in love. But with the rightful princess, Claire, not Popuri. Since Popuri and Claire had switched clothes, however, the prince was fooled like everyone else. He thought Claire was no more than a maidservant. Hmmm… I think I forgot to mention something. Oh, right, by the way, the prince's name was Cliff. When the false princess had been in the castle for only awhile, she requested that Claire be given work to do now that she was done with her. But there was no work in the castle for her. The King then remembered that on the edge of town there was a farm and that the farmer who owned it was old and worked there alone. 'He would surely want some help,' the King thought and so Claire became a farmer. The princess had no choice but to keep quiet and do work she was hardly capable of doing. A few days later when the celebrations had died down and the wedding preparations were keeping everyone busy, the prince went to meet Claire who he couldn't get out of his head. Claire was surprised that Prince Cliff wanted to talk to her and she found it hard to look him in the eye. When he did start to talk to her, he asked her many questions, most of which she didn't know how to answer without revealing her secret. She stayed silent for most of the time until finally she said, 'Go back to your bride. She's waiting for you!' And then she ran away. The prince left but came back the next day looking for Claire.

When the prince had been chasing the real princess for a few days, Claire finally gave up running. She made up a fake past so that no matter what question Cliff asked her, she would be able to answer. He was glad when she finally started talking to him. He returned the next day and the day after, not with any questions but just to talk to her. He was pretty sure he'd fallen in love with the farm girl. Then, the day before his wedding arrived. He didn't visit Claire that day. She was a little saddened by this. When night fell and she was about to go to sleep, Cliff came to the farm. Claire was so happy to see him one last time that she burst into tears of joy. Then she clutched the heart pendant around her neck in her hand to remind her to stay silent. But in her mind, she knew… She couldn't let Cliff marry a witch. And so, there she told the prince the truth. Everything. Starting with the fact that she was a princess and leading to the story of her and Popuri's journey to this country. And when she had finished with all of this, making sure Cliff understood, she explained that the pendant was going to kill her and there was no escape from it. Cliff couldn't help but believe her. Because then her heart stopped beating. The next day, Prince Cliff told his kingdom the truth and Popuri was burnt. Claire's body was buried on the farm she'd taken care of. And then, a few months later, the kingdom was at war. Prince Cliff traveled to the enemy country and was killed in battle. The End."

There was a minute of silence.

"Don't trick me like that!" Gray shouted at his father.

"What do you mean?" his father replied.

"You said that story was about my mother but Claire died before she could have any children!" Gray said.

"I never said Claire was your mother. Your mother was the witch, Popuri," his father explained.

There was an even longer moment of silence.

"…But… she died too," Gray said slowly.

"Popuri was a witch. She was older than she appeared. She'd had you before this story took place," his father said.

"I… I'm the son of a witch," Gray murmured to himself.

"I think I should add that you might live longer than an ordinary human. I don't know," the blacksmith said.

At the beginning of the story, Gray had been excited. Now he was traumatized. His life had been changed forever.


	6. GT2: Curse

Golden Turnip #2: Mineral Farm

Chapter 2: Curse

* * *

><p>The years slipped through my fingers too quickly. Once Gray had believed in heroes and justice and cheer, but all that passed with time.<p>

When his father told him the story of how his mother died and the truth about her, the darkness crept into his heart.

Now everything he once thought was good, he now thought was bad and vice versa.

According to his father, the witch Popuri, his mother, was actually a delightful and cheerful girl who'd been wrongfully burnt.

Every day, ever since he'd been told this story, Gray visited the farm in the story, since he now lived in that country, and gazed at the grave of the princess.

The only connection with the story left in the world, and also to his mother.

Time slips through my fingers, and now Gray has grown up into a spiteful young man, training to be a blacksmith out of tradition.

Without anyone else's knowledge, he studies black magic, to control the darkness in his heart. When he was going through a magic book written by his mother's family, he came across a scrap of paper tucked inside the pages.

It had details about the heart pendant which had killed the princess in the story; how it was really just an ordinary pendant with a curse on it and something about bringing the dead back to life…

"Wait a second!" Gray said, taking the scrap of paper and reading it over intently.

There it was. Apparently, the curse on the pendant didn't actually kill the wearer and if you revitalized the curse you could get the wearer's heart to start beating again.

Gray sighed. This would only be able to bring Claire back to life.

What good would that be?

Somewhere in the back of Gray's mind, he blamed Claire for the death of his mother. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter but what was the point in hiding from the truth.

His life was messed up.

Just then, the clock in his mind ticked past twelve and his brain worked up a plan all on its own. Hardly knowing this, Gray set to work.

The first thing he did was head for the farm where the princess was buried; most commonly known as Mineral Farm.

The owner of the farm, and the only one who worked there, was out in the fields so Gray headed straight for him.

"Excuse me, sir!" he called out, getting his attention.

He didn't know the farmer's name, so it surprised him when the farmer called back, "Good morning, Gray. What are you doing here this early in the morning?"

Gray had had no idea what the time had been but when he looked in the sky and saw the sun still rising, he finally realized what the time was.

"Uh… I came to ask you something kind of strange actually," Gray said, nervously.

The farmer looked at Gray suspiciously and then walked over to him.

A single movement of his eyebrow asked 'what?'

"I want you to dig up the body of the princess," Gray said.

"Why on earth would I do that for you?" the farmer asked.

"You can't be that attached to someone you never knew. And you can stay near me so I don't run of with the corpse or anything," Gray said.

The farmer paused for a moment and then let out a strangled sigh.

"I guess you're right. I'm holding onto the past. And anyway, I trust you. I remember watching you grow up and you… age very oddly," the farmer said.

Gray was taken aback at these words, but recovered quickly.

"I'll be back soon. I need a few things but if we could dig up the princess today, that'd be good," Gray said.

The farmer watched him suspiciously but nodded.

Later in the day, Gray returned to Mineral Farm. He knew what he needed to know. Now it was time. It seemed the farmer was ready too.

When Gray was standing by his side, the farmer took his spade and started digging.

As the silence, except for the sounds of earth being dug up, intensified, Gray asked, because his curiosity got the better of him, "What's your name? And how come you know me so well?"

"You don't know me? Oh, well. My name's Saibara. All my life I've been working in these fields. And over that time I've watched many children grow up. But you, you're different. Somehow I just know that you'll be coming back to this farm again and again. It'll be important again, even if it's just for one person," the farmer said.

Gray was silenced. The farmer sounded slightly depressed, as though looking back on past memories.

"Here," the farmer said, as he had dug down to the princess's coffin.

"Huh. I always thought they just buried her. Didn't know they could be bothered to build a coffin," Gray said.

"Don't be stupid. She was a princess," Saibara said.

The coffin wasn't buried too deep so the two of them managed to heave it out of the hole easily. Saibara opened the coffin and gasped.

The princess inside looked like she was just asleep.

"Just as beautiful as the day she died," Saibara murmured.

"Odd," Gray said simply.

Saibara shuddered and turned away. "…So, what are you going to do?" he asked.

"Oh, you can go now. I'm just going to cast a spell," Gray said.

"…I always knew you were into magic. You can smell the spells from you," Saibara said.

"What?" Gray said in alarm.

"Don't worry. It's just a thing with me. Nobody else would notice. Anyway, I feel a little sick. I'm going inside for a moment," Saibara said.

When the farmer was out of sight, Gray started to work. He took out all the papers and books he had on the pendant's curse and soon his mind was in order.

Simple. Just an abra cadabra here and a mystery potion there and-

"!"

The day's serenity was broken by an ear-splitting scream.

Gray didn't move. He just stared at the body which had opened its eyes.

"…_am I alive?_" she said in ghostly whisper.

Yes. It was definitely the princess. Gray had succeeded in bringing the dead back to life.


	7. GT2: Unknown Motive

Golden Turnip #2: Mineral Farm

Chapter 3: Unknown Motive

* * *

><p>The princess looked up into the eyes of the one who had brought her back to life and cringed. "Who the heck are you?" she asked.<p>

Gray was silent for a moment and then replied, "You are the princess, aren't you?"

"I know it may not look it but I am a princess," Claire said, realizing now that she was in a coffin but not being bothered by it.

"Oh, no, I do think you're that princess…uh… the thing is I don't know how to introduce myself," Gray said.

"Most people would just say their name," Claire said, considering how stupid or socially awkward this boy could be.

"Okay. My name is Gray. But I know you," Gray said.

"Well, I thought you would since you brought me back to life and everything. How'd you do it, anyway?" Claire asked.

"…Complicated magic stuff," Gray mumbled, hoping not to get drawn into the subject.

However, Claire was intrigued and said, "Do you use magic?"

"No, what gave you that idea, I'm completely ordinary," Gray said, quickly and nervously. Claire looked disappointed.

There was a long pause of silence until Claire said, "Well, thank you."

"Yeah? Uh… What for?" Gray asked.

"Death sucks!" Claire shouted.

"Really? You mean there's something after death?" Gray asked, interested.

"No! That's why it sucks so much!" Claire said.

"You really don't seem like a princess but I guess being dead for decades does that to people," Gray murmured.

"That reminds me. What happened to Cliff? And Popuri?" Claire asked.

"…You mean the others in the story? They died," Gray said.

"Old age?" Claire asked hopefully.

"No. Popuri was burnt because she was a witch and Cliff died in battle a few months after you died," Gray said.

Claire looked very disappointed.

The silence dragged on until finally the clock in Gray's mind ticked past three.

"So what are you going to do now that you're alive again?" he asked.

Claire thought about it and quickly came to a decision. "I want to work on this farm again. I really love this place," she answered.

"You actually liked working on the farm?" Gray said.

"Yeah. It was the best time of my life. Better than being a princess…" Claire said.

"Well… I guess you could," Gray said and then they stood up, heading for the farmhouse to talk to Saibara about it.

"I really didn't expect someone who just brought someone else back to life to act like you, you know," Claire said, turning to Gray.

"I didn't expect someone who was just brought back to life to act like you," Gray replied.

He knocked on the door and it opened quickly.

Claire screamed at the sight of Saibara. And he screamed back at her.

They stared at one another for awhile until Gray finally said, "What?"

"You… brought her back to life," Saibara said.

"…I guess I should've mentioned _that. _Well, anyway… what are you so freaked out about?" Gray asked Claire.

"You look exactly the same the last time I saw you," Claire said directly to Saibara.

There was silence as everyone stared at each other.

"Okay, I'll just say it. Saibara, you… he's the farmer from back when I was alive. Which means you… what are you?" Claire asked.

"…Are you a wizard?" Gray asked.

"Not exactly. But I'd rather be called a wizard so just stick with that," Saibara said.

"This is very strange. I revive someone and find out somebody else I knew my whole life is a wizard. A very interesting day. It's a pity it won't always be like that," Gray said.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"Well, you might be undead and he might be a wizard but you're both ordinary people basically," Gray pointed out.

Claire turned toward Gray and smiled. "Hey, Gray," she said. "Life's only interesting if you make it interesting. Come back tomorrow."

Gray stared at her and then laughed. "I completely forgot! Yeah, I will come back tomorrow. But for today, I must leave," he said and ran back to his own house.

"So can I work here again?" Claire asked immediately.

"It'd be nice to have you around again. But I'm worried about Gray. What's his motive…" Saibara muttered.

"Motive for what?" Claire asked.

"You don't just bring people back to life. No, he has a reason for bringing you back. I mean, I'm glad you're not a mutant half-dead thing, but I'm still suspicious," Saibara said.

"I guess things just can't be perfect. Anyway, I have things I want to study into. But first, the farm," Claire said.

And so now Claire had gone from princess to farmer to death and then back to farmer.

Gray has gone home to plan and plot what he would do tomorrow.

Oh, what will tomorrow bring?


	8. GT2: Revenge

Golden Turnip #2: Mineral Farm

Chapter 4: Revenge

* * *

><p>The next day came too quickly, she thought.<p>

Before long Claire was waking from a sleep she did not remember entering and was working on the farm again.

She had no appetite, today or the day before, which led her to believe she never would eat again. This was a little saddening.

She had enjoyed eating when she was alive, she was pretty sure, and food now even repulsed her.

Soon she moved onto farm work, but being dead for so long made her weaker, so it took her awhile before she could even lift a tool.

She quickly adjusted to this change, however, just like the first time.

And then the day went on, feeling just like an ordinary day when she was alive.

"Hey, Claire!"

This call snapped Claire's concentration back to reality and she turned to see Gray on the other end of the farm.

So far, Claire thought that the only difference between living now and back then was that instead of Cliff coming to visit her, it was Gray.

Claire shook her head. What a strange thing to think!; she thought.

Forgetting this, she ran over to Gray.

"Hey to you too!" she responded, watching his eyes flicker around the farm.

"Uh… That's right! Will you come with me?" he eventually asked.

"To where?" Claire replied.

"There's this hill… You're not done with work, are you?" Gray said.

Claire threw the hoe she was holding to the ground and said, "Let's go."

A memory flashed before her eyes; her favourite spot to sit was on a hill near here. She used to go there with Cliff. Maybe it was the same hill?

She shook her head and thought, not again!

They set off then, leaving the farm in a state of chaos. There was a lot of work left to be done; which Claire had just skipped.

When they were at the hill Claire was pleased to see that it was indeed her favourite spot. She could look over the farm and even where the castle used to stand.

Claire was a little surprised to see it had vanished. But she'd only been living in this era for a day and she didn't even know how much time had gone by since her death.

Claire turned to face Gray then and said, "So why did you bring me here?"

He walked over to her slowly and then put his left hand on the side of her face.

There he said, "I brought you here to kill you."

Claire made no sound whatsoever until Gray stepped back.

Then she said, "You brought me back to life… to kill me?"

Gray was silent until he finally said, "I know it sounds stupid."

"No, not at all!" Claire interrupted. "Death was awful, as it was like being unaware and aware of time passing at the same time! Now that I know what it's like, I would never have given up my life in the first place if I could do it over. The worst thing that could happen to me now is to go back there…"

"Do you want me to kill you?" Gray asked, confused by Claire's reasoning.

"No, no, no! Please, I beg of you!" Claire cried, tears forming in her eyes as she spoke.

Now that Claire was begging for her life, Gray thought the dilemma was worth it.

He took a dagger hidden in his coat and held it inches away from Claire's throat.

Claire's heart began to beat faster and faster and she was sure it was going to burst.

Then Gray smiled and said, "Well, go on. Beg."

Claire shut her eyes and tears streamed down her face but when she opened her eyes again, there was a look of determination in them.

"I will not beg for my life," she said, "because I know it will not stop you."

She continued, "However, I want to know this before I return to the earth. Why are you going to kill me?"

Gray had been disappointed that Claire wasn't going to beg but when she had asked him her question, he went icy cold. Even though, he did want to tell her why.

"There's no reason for stalling. I'll just tell you. The witch Popuri, the one whose fault it is you died and the one you doomed to death, was my mother," Gray said.

Claire gasped. She wanted to reach over and hug Gray at that moment, but she couldn't move any closer unless she wanted to be impaled on his dagger.

"I'm so sorry, Gray," she said, "I guess you don't know the truth. So I'll have to tell you."

"What do you mean 'truth'?" Gray asked.

Claire ignored him and continued, "I don't know what you've been told so I'll have to start from…"

And then Gray felt young again, back when his father had first told him the tale of how his mother had died.

"This is the completely true story of how I died, and how your mother died, but since I didn't live to witness her death it is mainly the story of how I died."

"You probably know already that I was promised to marry Prince Cliff at birth, unless they changed that part of the story too. When I was old enough and my mother was sending me to his kingdom, I was horrified. I didn't want to marry him. The only thing that kept me going was my best friend, who also happened to be my maidservant, Popuri. I would like to point out that through all the time I knew her, I knew she was a witch and I still love magic to this day. When we were riding to Prince Cliff's kingdom alone, I told her that I would do anything to get out of this wretched engagement, though I hadn't met Cliff yet and did not know what he was like. When we stopped at an inn she offered me this heart pendant… which I'm still wearing. That's weird. Well, anyway, I liked it but I couldn't have just demanded her to give it to me so when she offered it, I took it. That's when she explained the curse and laughed at me. Have I left anything out? I guess it doesn't matter. So I was really annoyed with her but by the time we'd gotten there I was really quite pleased with the arrangement. I didn't want to be a princess and after working on the farm long enough, I thought it was perfect. I was happy and Popuri was happy and I was happy that Popuri was happy. But then…" Claire sighed deeply.

"Then Cliff started visiting me and asking me questions. So I had to make up a fake past which was mostly based on Popuri's history. When he thought he knew all about me he started to tell me about himself. Then one time, he admitted to me that he was scared of Popuri and wished he could marry me instead. He was incredibly embarrassed by this and ran away at once. That's when I decided to tell him the truth. Even though I was happy where I was and Popuri was happy too (she did come to visit me but not as often as Cliff did), I couldn't go on with the lie knowing that Cliff would suffer. Also I didn't think Popuri had really cursed the pendant since she knew I wanted to swap places. But she did and after telling Cliff about our true identities, I died."

Gray stared at Claire in silence, as though he expected her to go on. But the story was over, and he knew it was because he had heard the ending before.

He was far more shocked than Claire had been at anything Gray had said to her.

The silence lingered and Claire realized that Gray had dropped his dagger awhile ago.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked, thinking now that this might be too much of a shock, though in her eyes it was not much of a shock at all.

Gray blinked, swallowed, but still couldn't say anything.

At last he thought of a single word to utter, which developed into this sentence, "So you cared more about what happened to Popuri than Cliff?"

Claire smiled to see Gray had recovered and said, far too cheerfully, "Yeah."


	9. GT2: Long Lives Unlived

Golden Turnip #2: Mineral Farm

Chapter 5: Long Lives Unlived

* * *

><p>Gray became silent again. He then remembered the dagger and picked it up. Claire flinched, but Gray returned the dagger to his coat pocket.<p>

"So… you're not going to kill me now?" Claire asked.

"Well…" Gray said, with a look of deep concentration on his face, "obviously not!"

"Oh. In that case, what are you going to do now? It looks to me like revenge was at the top of your to-do list," Claire said.

"…I'm going to leave," Gray said, after thought.

"Leave?" Claire questioned.

"This place doesn't have enough information about black magic. I'll never find the spell I'm after if I stay here. I don't care about whom will become the blacksmith in my place so that doesn't matter…" Gray muttered.

"Just wait a moment. You study black magic? Your mother wouldn't be pleased about that!" Claire said.

"What? Are you… kidding me?" Gray spluttered.

"That's a story for another day. What I want to say is that I don't think you should leave," Claire said.

Gray, intrigued, said, "Go on."

"…I- I'm going to be working on the farm without knowing anybody but Saibara. You… You should stay and make sure I'm alright because, after all, you're responsible for me since you brought me back to life!" Claire said, unsure of what to say until it tumbled out in a strange phrasing.

"So what you're saying is you want me to stay," Gray said.

Claire didn't respond but just stared into Gray's eyes, waiting for him to answer.

Although Gray wouldn't admit (he hardly knew it had happened), the light of the world was making its way back into his heart.

In other words, Gray now saw that the distinction between good and evil was nothing. He almost smiled. And then he said, "Okay."

Claire's eyes brightened and she finally looked on the view before her with joy.

Gray, on the other hand, could not be bothered to stay any longer.

He made his way home and Claire didn't worry.

As Gray walked down the hill he thought about everything Claire had said to him and something he, himself, had said.

Claire had never really died or at least she'd never been properly dead. So was there or wasn't there a life after death?

Gray didn't care. That was a matter for somebody else, of course.

All Gray needed was magic. And it was about time he started focusing on something other than the death of his mother.

In the end, Gray told Claire more about his past than he'd told anyone else, mainly because Gray knew so much about Claire.

But they never dared ask Saibara a question about who he was.

And as time passed, they became so involved in their own world that they thought only the three of them existed. If everyone in the town suddenly died of a plague, they wouldn't notice.

Now, forty years later…

Gray, Claire and Saibara were taking a break on Claire's favourite hill, which she had dragged them to.

They all looked exactly the same as they did forty years before then.

Gray, with his mother being a witch, lived a lot longer and even after forty years he didn't look like he'd aged at all.

Claire, it now seemed, was going to live forever. Since old age couldn't take her, she was sure to live as long as she wanted to, the only one of the three (though nobody is sure about Saibara) who could govern their own time.

As for Saibara, they weren't sure what he was but they continued calling him a wizard and he seemed pleased with that.

Gray never did leave the town. He ended up mostly enchanting weapons he made, but since most people didn't really want a sword nowadays, he had to keep most of his creations.

Claire had convinced Saibara to start raising geese until nearly all the animals he owned were geese. When asked, 'why geese?' Claire replied, 'because.'

For people who lived almost forever, not much went on in their lives.

You couldn't say they lived happily ever after because they weren't really happy.

But they did live contentedly ever after.

However the story wasn't finished. Centuries passed and Claire, Gray and Saibara watched the world evolve from the side lines. Even after so long they were glad they were all together.

Claire looked exactly the same as the day she died, Gray was looking older but not by that much and Saibara looked just the same.

Now the question could not go unanswered.

"What are you?" Gray finally asked Saibara, now brave enough for the answer.

"...It's a very long story," Saibara said as Gray and Claire edged inches closer.

Gray smiled and said, "I won't fall asleep."

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #2 is Goose Girl.<p>

My comment on this story: I may or may not continue this story. The chapter after this will be a new story, not a continuation, by the way.


	10. GT3: Responsibility

A/N: This was the first 'golden turnip' I ever came up with, but it took me awhile to write it. This is the second story based on Animal Parade. I can't decide what genre I think this would be.

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #3: Wizard's Gold<p>

Chapter 1: Responsibility

* * *

><p>There was once an old farmer who'd gotten sick in his old age and hardly ever worked. He was taken care of by his granddaughter, whose name was Molly, but he would never let her work on the farm.<p>

Because of this, the farm fell into ruin around them. The old farmer was still determined to keep the farm running so every day he attempted to complete his farm work.

Whenever Molly (who'd lived on the farm all her life due to her parent's early deaths) asked her grandfather why she wasn't allowed to work on the farm if he wanted it returned to its former glory, he would quickly change the subject.

Molly had never once succeeded in getting information from her grandfather. She had once asked him why she wasn't allowed to meet anyone living in the nearby town (except the mayor who seemed to enjoy visiting the run down farm) but was distracted by the subject of school (her grandfather being her teacher, of course).

One morning, Molly entered her grandfather's room to find him still asleep.

First she said "Wake up!" and then she walked over to him and tried to shake him awake. She continued shaking him and telling him to wake up, even after she realized he wasn't going to get up.

Finally she fell back and stared at her silent, motionless grandfather.

* * *

><p>A few days before this happened; the old farmer visited the Town Hall of Harmonica Town to talk with Hamilton, the mayor, about his farm's debt.<p>

Ever since he'd first bought the farm he'd had the debt. The old farmer came and explained that the reason he'd never paid the debt off was because he had to save up for his family, which ended up being just Molly. He then said he didn't have the money yet again and left.

On the day that Molly discovered her grandfather lying dead in his bed, Hamilton was having an argument with his son, Gill, about the debt. It began as it always did, with Gill complaining that the farmer was still avoiding his debt.

Hamilton replied to this repetitive comment, "I'll pay him a visit and discuss the farm and his debt, but let's just wait until after his granddaughter's birthday."

"Why? He's waited long enough," Gill said.

"He's old and sick. Let him enjoy himself for awhile," Hamilton said, but could already see the fault in his plan.

"Right, so when you do come to him and talk about his debt he gets a heart attack. I mean, do you know how much money he owes us?" Gill pointed out.

The Mayor sighed and continued, "Gill, will you just wait until after his granddaughter's birthday? It's not that far away."

"Fine," Gill said, but he was already making plans to go over there that very day to inform the farmer of his debt once more.

Then there was a knock on the door and the Mayor answered it. Standing outside was the granddaughter's farmer, Molly. Tears were rolling down her face but she wasn't making a noise.

"Molly, what's happened?" Hamilton asked.

"H- He won't wake up!" Molly managed to say.

"Molly, calm down. What are you talking about?" Hamilton asked.

"My grandfather… he's dead!" Molly said, and at this, she began to weep noisily.

Hamilton turned around to look at his son. They were both thinking about the conversation they just had. But neither said a word about it.

* * *

><p>The funeral was set up quickly, as most events in the town were. Few people attended, as not many people interacted with the farmer.<p>

Nearing the end of the funeral, all the attendants went quiet and thought about the farmer. That's when Molly started sobbing again. She fell to the ground and stared at her grandfather's grave.

Eventually, when this had all been wrapped up, one of the attendants, a woman called Mira, began to leave the graveyard. As she walked back towards the town, she saw somebody watching the whole fiasco from above.

After she'd stayed silent for an awkward enough time, she said, "Hello. Did you know the farmer?"

"Yes. We were actually good friends. Once," they replied.

Mira stared at this stranger after that until she could think of nothing else to say. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid I don't know who you are. So, who are you?"

"I'm the Wizard," he said simply.

"Oh, that's right. I've heard of you…" Mira said, starting to feel awkward again.

"I was just going, anyway. I already said goodbye to him a long time ago," the Wizard said as he walked back into town.

Mira took one last look at the graveyard where Molly was being led back up the stairs and then set off for her own home.

* * *

><p>Later that day, as the sun began to set, Molly found herself eating and drinking everything left over in the fridge. She stared at the wall across from her and felt empty.<p>

Then there was a knock on her front door, lifting her sorrows for just a moment. She opened the door straight away and came face to face with the still unfamiliar face of the Mayor's son, Gill.

"H- Hello," she said, staring at the ground. She wasn't sure how to act around people.

"Good evening to you too. I've just come to deliver this to you in person," Gill said.

He handed Molly a single piece of paper which she read in a flash. Afterwards, she gasped and stared at Gill.

"That number at the bottom of the page is your grandfather's debt. There is a simple way around this, really. You have a week to either pay off the debt, or sell the farmland to us. If that's okay with you, I'll be on my way," Gill said.

"A week?" Molly screeched.

"Yes. I expect you'll be ready to give up and sell the farmland by then. That's all. I'll see you in a week's time," Gill said, and walked away.

Molly was outraged with Gill but also horrified by the thought of paying of the debt with only a week to go. She shut the front door and collapsed in a heap on the ground.

She thought about the whole conundrum until she finally decided on what to do.

There was no way she could give up the farm! It was one of the most important things to her grandfather, and although he never wanted her to do any farm work, she was sure he'd be okay with it in this situation. Surely it couldn't be that difficult!


	11. GT3: The Game Begins

Golden Turnip #3: Wizard's Gold

Chapter 2: The Game Begins

* * *

><p>Molly awoke at six o'clock in the morning and decided the first thing she should do is eat a hearty breakfast. But when she opened the fridge she remembered she ate everything yesterday.<p>

Disappointed and hungry, she chose to go straight to the farm work. She grabbed her grandfather's rucksack as she opened the front door.

There, she stared out at the rundown farm and had no idea what to do. She had no idea where to start first.

So she decided to rummage through the rucksack, hoping it would give her an idea. But as she searched deeper and deeper, she realized that for a girl who grew up on a farm, she knew very little about farming.

In frustration, she threw the rucksack onto the ground and sat down beside it in huff.

She wondered and wondered how she was going to be able to learn how to farm and make enough money in a week's time.

Then she noticed someone was standing next to her. She looked up and saw yet another unfamiliar face. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I was a friend of your grandfather's a long time ago. I guess you can call me Wizard," the Wizard said.

"A friend of my grandfather's? Then how come I don't know you?" Molly asked.

"We were friends before you were born. But then he stopped talking to me. I never did find out what happened. Anyway, I can see you're having some trouble. What's going on?" the Wizard asked.

"Oh, well… Yesterday I found out I have a week to pay off my grandfather's debt but I have no idea how to farm and I don't think I could plant enough turnips in the world to pay off the debt," Molly said, her voice quivering near the end.

"I can help you. If you plant some turnips, I can cast a spell on them that'll help you," the Wizard said.

"Really? Are you serious? I… I- Thank you!" Molly said. She jumped onto her feet and stared at the stranger before her. "Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"Because… I owe a debt to your grandfather, but I never got to repay him while he was still alive. And I don't really have anything else to do at the moment," the Wizard said.

"You're so kind, Wizard! I only just met you and you're still helping me out. I can see we are destined to be friends in the future!" Molly said. Then she continued, "…I guess that means you'll be my first friend ever."

"Okay. You've got a lot of work ahead of you, so don't just stand there talking to me," the Wizard said.

Molly was about to pick up her grandfather's rucksack when she suddenly thought of one last thing to say. "You're being so kind to me. Isn't there something you want in return?"

"Well… when all the turnips you plant flower, all I ask is you give me one of them. The rest you can use to pay off your grandfather's debt," the Wizard said.

Molly smiled, thinking about how generous the Wizard was being. Then she took a deep breath in and got to work, cleaning up the farm.

* * *

><p>She managed to clear the farmland, to her surprise, and went off to buy Turnip seeds. Everything she did was so new and frightening. She found it difficult to talk to people, especially when they were so talkative.<p>

She planted the seeds back home and by that time, she was exhausted. But she was determined to bring the farm back to its former glory, whatever that was like.

She had to go into town next, to tell the Wizard she had planted the seeds. She had no idea where he lived, either, so it was bound to be nerve racking.

She recognized the town from a distance, but as she got closer and closer, she became more afraid. There were a few people outside, who looked at her oddly, wondering who she was.

Molly wandered around for awhile, hoping she would just stumble into the Wizard's hideout, but knew it was unlikely. She looked around, wondering who she should ask for directions.

But just then, someone came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Molly's heart stopped for a moment, and then she turned around. It was just the Wizard.

"So, you've planted the seeds?" the Wizard asked.

"Yes. Is farming always going to be this difficult?" Molly asked.

"I wouldn't know but I imagine so. Let's get going," the Wizard said, and off they went.

Back at the farm, the Wizard chanted a strange melody. Molly could understand a few of the words he said, but most of it was gibberish to her.

She heard words like 'Harvest' and 'shine' and 'sparkle.' She started wondering what the turnips were going to end out like, and how they could make her so much money.

She didn't dare interrupt the Wizard, and when he was done, he simply left. Molly didn't stop him. She had just remembered how hungry she was.

She wondered whether she had any money for food. She returned to her house and began searching everywhere. While she searched, she remembered her favourite television program was on, and watched another episode.

Finally, after searching under every couch cushion, every floorboard and every cupboard, she found she had enough money… for a small meal, probably.

Molly left the house, planning to head for the town once more, when she spotted the seeds again and realized she hadn't watered them yet.

Quickly, she watered the ground and then set off for a place to eat. She found the Inn in Harmonica Town, where she ate a Mushroom Rice, and was questioned by an energetic girl about where she was from.

The girl was surprised to hear she'd lived on that farm her whole life but didn't say anything more. Molly finished her meal and wished she'd had more money to save up.

* * *

><p>The days passed quickly after that, as it was easy to maintain the field of turnips. She started foraging for things to eat and sell, and managed to maintain her hunger as well.<p>

She also made herself confront the villagers and became less afraid of social contact. She then learnt where the Wizard lived as well.

Then the day came when the turnips grew ripe and Molly learnt their special secret. They certainly did shine and sparkle. Because they were made of gold.

She harvested the golden turnips, although they were very heavy, and kept one separate to give to the Wizard, as he had asked for.

Molly stared at the turnips, wondering how much they were worth, and worrying. The next morning, after she worried all through the night, she found she had made enough money to pay off the debt.

She was also asked questions by the other farmers and they all stared at her in awe. They asked things like 'what's your secret?' and said things like 'your farm is destined for greatness.'

The Wizard got his golden turnip as requested, and Molly proudly walked into the Town Hall. Gill smiled menacingly when he saw her approach the counter.

"Here to sell the farmland?" he asked, though he was sure of the answer.

Molly handed over the money and said, "No, I'm just here to pay off the debt."

Gill stared at her, unable to say or do anything for a few moments. Then he regained his mind and said, "But… a week… How did you…"

"I've got more potential as a farmer than you thought, eh?" Molly said, proudly. Then she walked out of the building.

The next day, Molly saw a fault in her plan. Everyone was expecting to see more golden crops, fascinated by the farmland and the secrets it held. Scared they might discover her secret, Molly returned to the Wizard and they agreed on the same arrangement.

Although this time, the Wizard wanted her to plant cabbages. Molly asked why he wanted crops anyway.

He replied, "I use them in certain spells. But I really shouldn't be using golden crops. This time, I'll leave one of the seeds untouched and I'll want you to give me the normal one."

"Fine by me," Molly said. And so their deal became a constant arrangement.


	12. GT3: Learning Something New

Golden Turnip #3: Wizard's Gold

Chapter 3: Learning Something New

* * *

><p>Molly loved to go on about how wonderful and rewarding it was to work on the farm and how majestic the golden plants were. The farm was looking lively and beautiful; Molly knew that her grandfather would be proud of her, even though he never wanted her to be a farmer.<p>

She became closer to the other farmers and villagers, but spent most of her time with the Wizard and would ask him questions about her family. He knew things about her grandfather and her parents who had died soon after Molly's birth.

At first, the Wizard had needed crops in his spells and so he came to Molly's grandfather constantly. But through this, they managed to become friends.

Then, a little while before Molly was born; her grandfather stopped talking to Wizard, even going so far as to avoid him. The Wizard still did not know why.

She did wonder why this was, from time to time. She had always wanted to know the riddle that was her grandfather, but she was fascinated further by this secret.

The Wizard could think of nothing he had done that would make her grandfather act in such a way, so it probably wasn't caused by him directly. Perhaps somebody else in town was getting into her grandfather's head, and making him fear the Wizard.

That was still a rather pointless idea, among the many theories Molly had. When she wasn't working, this is what she usually pondered. Well, that secret and the pendant.

The pendant she'd gotten from her grandfather. When the Wizard saw it, he told Molly its story. He had crafted that pendant, and enchanted it. Her grandfather had requested it, but the Wizard had no idea why until now.

All the spells cast on it were spells of protection. He had clearly cared a lot about Molly, even before she had been born.

* * *

><p>It was a day like any other; Molly had just harvested a new batch of golden crops and was off to see the Wizard about what to plant next.<p>

She entered the Wizard's house, noticed he was a bit distracted, and said, "So what'll it be this time?"

"Hmm… Oh, yes. Strawberries. Lots of strawberries," the Wizard said, turning to face Molly as he mentioned the strawberries.

"All right, and let me guess. You want one of the strawberries?" Molly said.

"No, actually," the Wizard said, surprising Molly. "I have something else in mind."

"Okay, what is it?" Molly asked, foolishly.

"I ask for… your first born child," the Wizard said.

Molly stared at him. Silence followed. The Wizard looked slightly embarrassed.

But then Molly smiled a slightly scared smile and answered, "It's a good thing I plan on staying single forever, huh? Okay, I guess I accept."

The Wizard smiled for a brief moment, as though he were about to laugh. Molly awkwardly left, hoping her fear was not too obvious.

They went on with the deal, the Wizard asking for normal things from then on; settling Molly's nerves.

* * *

><p>As the days passed by, Molly noticed Gill was watching her.<p>

He came by the farm to watch her work and when she came to town, he watched her from his window. He was surprised at how hard a worker she really was, considering she was probably rich from all the golden crops.

Getting sick of this, Molly finally decided to just talk to him more; in a hope to prevent possible stalking in the future. Most of the time they got along fine but they did argue every now and then. Molly enjoyed the Wizard's company more, even if he was creepy from time to time.

Molly sometimes wondered whether she considered Gill her rival. Even since the first time she'd met him, she felt like proving herself worthy although…

Now that Molly thought about it, she had probably met Gill before. Back when they were children, when the Mayor came to visit, he would sometimes bring his son. They never spoke to each other, but Molly knew that she knew Gill.

And so, one day Molly was working on another field of golden crops when Gill stopped by. Again. Molly was rather sick of hearing his obnoxious voice. That's how she heard it, anyway.

"Hello, Gill. I was just about to go take care of the livestock," Molly said, as she had not only focused on crops, but being a rancher as well. "Just come into the barn if you want to talk." Molly half hoped he wouldn't come into the barn. But he did. Of course.

As Molly brushed the cows and sheep, Gill tried to make conversation, and sometimes he'd say something that Molly actually did want to talk about, which they would then talk about and, surprisingly, not get into an argument.

"Hey, Molly. There's been something I've been thinking about," Gill said, stopping their conversation short.

"Hmmm, yeah?" Molly mumbled, not really paying attention.

Gill walked up to Molly and waited until she stopped brushing her prize cow. She then turned around and came face to face with Gill. Gill took Molly's hand and said, "I know it's probably a stupid question but… do you like me?"

Molly responded, "Not most of the time."

She turned back to brushing her prize cow while Gill's heart almost snapped in two.

"Wait… Did you mean… w- what I think you mean?" Molly stammered. Molly turned back to Gill and stared into his eyes. "T- This is all s- so new to me…" Molly mumbled.

And still she didn't answer. Because she knew nothing about love. She argued a lot with Gill but maybe… that was because she liked him. Molly had no idea.

She was just about to say, 'I don't know,' when instead, she said, "I guess so."

"Well, that's just great!" Gill said, and it seemed like one layer of awkwardness had been removed.

Molly stood there, speechless for a moment, and then decided it could be worse.

Gill went home happy, but Molly did little else for the day, worried about what Gill might do next.


	13. GT3: Heartbroken

Golden Turnip #3: Wizard's Gold

Chapter 4: Heartbroken

* * *

><p>The next day came and Molly felt that with this dawn, only good could come.<p>

She had just finished working on the farm and was watching another episode of her favourite television program when there was a knock on the door. She answered it and was not too surprised to see Gill standing there.

"Hey, Gill," she said, casually.

Gill was quiet for awhile but then quickly said, "I better get through this. I don't think I can build up to it."

Molly felt trouble was following that sentence. And sure enough, Gill got down on one knee and produced a blue feather.

Molly picked Gill up off the ground and, keeping her cool, grumbled, "Gill, don't you think you're moving way too fast?"

"Well, I thought the element of surprise would work to my advantage," Gill said.

"For goddess's sake, Gill! We haven't really known each other for even a season!" Molly growled, losing her cool.

"Molly, I was just afraid of waiting too long. I realize that this was obviously way too fast but… I mean, I think that no matter what, I'm going to have to constantly ask you to marry me, so why not start now?" Gill explained.

Molly nodded. She knew that if she ever did get married, it would be after a lot of persistence. Perhaps it was best to start ahead of time.

Molly looked at the nervous boy standing on her doorstep and considered everything that had happened with them in the short time they had known each other.

And she decided to risk it. "I give in already. Let's get married! I mean, you are ready, right? That wasn't just a joke, right?"

They both went silent for a moment, unsure what the other was thinking. Then they both grinned, and knew the answer…

* * *

><p>Many people were shocked when they heard that Molly and Gill were getting married. Not only were they quite young, but they hadn't even known each other for a season, although they had met when they were children.<p>

However, nobody was more shocked than the Wizard, when he received the news from Molly herself. Thinking her closest friend ought to hear about the engagement from her, she went to tell the Wizard.

But he responded quite strangely. First he looked sad, and then disappointed. Then he simply said, "Get out."

"Hey! Why are you being so rude, Wizard?" Molly persisted.

"I told you to leave. Now," the Wizard said.

Molly stared into his eyes and was frightened. She left after that, but as she left, she heard a strange sound, almost like a gunshot.

Molly walked home, saddened by the fact that her friend did not partake in her joy. In a week's time, she was going to be married, and it seemed the Wizard would not be there.

When she returned to her farmland, she stared at the ground and wondered how everyone would feel if she told them the truth about the golden crops. After hearing the Wizard's reaction about the wedding, perhaps it was time to become less dependant on him.

* * *

><p>So time passed. Molly revealed the truth about her crops and though the people were a little disappointed they wouldn't see those golden crops again, they were happy that they would be able to eat Molly's vegetables, rather than stare at them.<p>

After this, Molly and Gill got married, and although it was sudden, they found each other even more tolerable after marriage, and even fell in love, if you can believe that.

Molly managed to forget the Wizard, almost forgetting he even existed at some points. Her farm flourished, the island prospered and everyone was happy. It seemed like a perfect fairy tale world.

And then Molly got pregnant. At first she was overjoyed, and so was Gill. But they couldn't foresee what was to come.

On the night Molly gave birth, something terrible (that Molly had forgotten) was going to happen. Molly and Gill had just arrived home from the hospital and were still obsessed with their child. Molly was cradling her newborn son in her arms, Gill by her side, when the front door opened without warning.

The Wizard stood there. He walked up to Molly and said, "Hand over the child."

"W- Wizard?" Molly stammered.

"We made a deal, Molly. Just because you forgot about me, doesn't mean that the deal is broken," the Wizard said.

Molly was silent as Gill tried to work out what was going on. And then tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn't cried once since her grandfather's funeral.

"Please don't take him, Wizard," Molly sobbed.

But the Wizard ignored her tears. He reached over and just took the newborn child from her arms, no matter how Gill tried to interfere. As he took the boy, he said, "And my name's not really Wizard." He then began to walk out the door. He stopped and said, "Not that you ever cared."

"Wizard… His name is Gold," Molly said.

The Wizard did not turn around. He only said after a moment's consideration, "I can't believe you would be so cruel…"

He then left the house and walked off into the night.

"MOLLY!" Gill shouted. "Why did you let that random stranger run off with our baby?"

"I thought he was my friend… Why would he do that," Molly whispered to herself.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #3 is Rumplestiltskin.<p>

My comment on this story: The inspiration for this story and the idea for 'A Collection Of Golden Turnips' came from wondering constantly what the Wizard's name might be. I thought,_hey, this is kind of like Rumplestiltskin!_ Ta-da. Also this story will definitely be continued. But a long way away from now.


	14. GT4: Never Meant To Be

A/N: What are these stories turning into? Anyway, this story is based on Grand Bazaar. It was supposed to be shorter than this, but it became longer and longer as I wrote more. Oh, and the Grand Bazaar MC is Oliver in this… because I'm saving up the Hansel and Gretel idea… if you hadn't guessed that already…

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #4: Spirit of the Well<p>

Chapter 1: Never Meant To Be

* * *

><p>In days gone by there lived a rather ordinary boy in Zephyr Town. His name was Oliver, and he was looking for a way to solve his most current problem. He had heard of a wishing well in the middle of the forest, so that's where he headed.<p>

He found some pretty flowers and tossed them into the well as his offering. Then he made his wish.

When he returned home, he saw his wish had been granted and he was filled with joy.

But as days passed by, Oliver realized that he had other troubles that had not been solved by his wish. And so, he returned to the well day after day, throwing in offerings and making wishes.

The Harvest Goddess, who had been the one granting his wishes, began to get tired of this. Oliver was asking for too much. He was even putting less thought into his offerings for her.

So the Harvest Goddess decided to teach him a lesson. When the boy came that day, and made his offering, the Harvest Goddess appeared before him.

He watched her in a state of awe, unable to move or say anything. The Harvest Goddess spoke to him, "You've been coming here every day for awhile now. It is time that you returned me all those favors."

"How may I help you?" Oliver asked, although he was not overly eager to help.

"I have a lot of things that I have to do and all your wishes are just one more problem of mine. But it's not just you. Many people come here to make wishes, and going around, making those wishes come true takes a lot of time and effort," the Harvest Goddess explained. "If somebody else was to take my place at this well and went about making people's wishes come true, then things would be easier for me. I've decided that, in return for all the wishes I've granted you, you should take my place."

"Me? But I would be useless! I can't even make my own wishes come true. How would I be able to help others?" Oliver asked in an evasive tone.

"Don't worry about that. I've worked it all out. You'll become a spirit, the guardian of the well, so you'll be granted powers to go along with the title. Whenever someone makes a wish at this well, you'll get your physical form back and you'll go off to make their wish come true, using your new powers. You won't be able to run away from your duty, since you'll no longer be human. And you'll live forever," the Harvest Goddess explained.

Oliver was shocked and afraid. "I don't want to live forever!" he said.

"It's too late. You may not have noticed yet, but your humanity is draining away. You wouldn't have been able to make a bargain with me anyway," the Harvest Goddess said.

She looked at Oliver's desperate face, filled with fear, and pretended to think about what she had just said. Then she said, slyly, "Well, there is one way to break this curse. If you find someone who is willing to take your place as guardian of the well, then you can return to humanity, as the age you are now. You will then be mortal once more."

Oliver stood in that one spot, watching as his physical form slowly faded away, feeling his mind being transported to the well.

The Harvest Goddess spoke up once more, "Don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to think about it."

And that was the day Oliver became the guardian of the well.

* * *

><p>Oliver got used to his new life rather quickly. He never had to deal with more than one person a day, which was useful since whenever someone came and made a wish, he had exactly one day to go out and make it come true.<p>

His physical form was invisible to others, although he could make himself visible if he wanted. He also became hungry and tired when in a physical form, so he tried to finish his work quickly and return to the well where these things did not concern him.

Oliver had thought about what the Harvest Goddess had told him. Every time a person came to the well to make a wish, he considered asking them to take his place.

But upon hearing what they wished for, he felt guilty for even considering it. Everyone he saw seemed so sad and he remembered the pointless things he had wished for.

Oliver was sure that one day, however, someone less deserving would show up and he would be able to trade places with them. Or so he wished.

It seemed, as guardian of the wishing well, his own wishes did not come true.

Time passed on quickly, and although the Harvest Goddess kept an eye on him, Oliver hardly ever saw her. And then, as even more time passed, and people stopped believing in wishes, Oliver hardly ever saw anyone.

One day, all of a sudden, people just stopped coming to the wishing well. The clearing was surrounded by thorns. The path that used to lead directly there was overgrown by grass and the well was forgotten.

Oliver was left alone with the offerings at the bottom of the well, unable to exist in the world above unless someone wished for his help.

He forgot how much time past. He forgot about his own past, even. He could only focus on one thing. The moment anybody wandered near his well, he would trick them into trading places with them. He didn't care who they were anymore.

But still, nobody approached the long forgotten well. So Oliver tried one last time, and he made a wish for anyone to show up, possibly using the last of his sanity as his offering.

* * *

><p>Zephyr Town grew into a well known and appreciated town in the time that had passed. They even had a traditional bazaar every week.<p>

In the town, there lived a rather ordinary girl. Her name was Antoinette.

One day, she decided to go into the forest to search for a quiet spot in the beautiful scenery. She was wandering aimlessly when she came to a wall of thorns. Behind the thorns she could see a stunning clearing and knew that this was the place she was looking for.

She went looking for a way around the wall, but when she got close to the thorns, they curled back so that she could walk through. Suspicious but excited, Antoinette continued on through, heading straight towards the well that she saw the moment she entered the clearing.

Then she heard a voice calling out to her, "Come closer."

Antoinette stopped in her tracks and called back, "Who's there?"

"I'm the guardian of the well and I can make all your wishes come true," the voice said.

Antoinette walked over to the well and stared at her reflection in the water. "Really?" she asked.

"Certainly. I'll tell you more but first, I want you to summon me. Just find something, anything, and throw it into the well as an offering, then make a wish," the voice said.

Antoinette considered it, but quickly decided to do what the voice had said. She took off a ring she was wearing and threw it into the well, thinking this was the kind of offering the voice had meant. Then she closed her eyes and wished that her mother would come visit her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw someone standing beside her. She stumbled backwards in shock. It was a handsome boy, only a few years older than her, although he was dressed poorly, Antoinette noted.

"I'm the guardian of the well," the boy said. "I'll go convince your mother to come pay you a visit, but first I want to talk to you… oh, and that ring you used as an offering… that looked important."

Antoinette looked down into the well, but the water just reflected her own face back at her. She saw the boy's reflection appear beside hers on the water's surface.

"Hold out your hands," the boy said.

Antoinette turned to the boy and did as he asked. The guardian of the well placed his hands on Antoinette's and summoned the power of the well into him. Then he let go of her hands.

Antoinette looked to see her ring was on her hand again, although it was on the wrong finger. "Is that my ring?" she asked as she moved the ring to another finger.

"No. I have to use your ring to get out of the well. I just created a new ring for you," the boy said.

Antoinette was impressed. The boy had proved his powers. But now she had a question for him. "When you made that ring, you put it on this finger," she said, pointing at her left ring finger. "Do I look like I'm married?"

"Did I offend you? I just assumed you would be married," the boy said.

"Look at me? Do I look old enough to get married?" Antoinette asked.

"I guess times have changed," the boy mumbled.

"And if I was married, I would never just throw my wedding ring into a well," Antoinette said.

"Alright, alright, can we just focus on what I want to ask of you?" the boy asked, impatient at this point.

Antoinette went silent and then nodded her head.

The guardian of the well composed himself, planning his words carefully ahead of himself. And then he began explaining his plan.

"As you know, I have powers, but my powers extend far further than just creating objects out of thin air," the boy said. "I can do just about anything you would ask me to. I could make you a queen; shower you with gold and jewels and power. Or whatever you want. I would like to become your servant, but only if you agree to take my place as guardian of the well after I have done all this for you."

Antoinette thought about it. The thought of it was very enticing, but she wasn't too sure what being guardian of the well meant. So she asked, "How long would you be my servant until I have to become guardian of the well?"

They both thought about it and discussed it with each other until Antoinette decided. "Thirty years seems good. Enough time for me to live a decent life. Not too long for you to wait," Antoinette said.

The guardian of the well didn't care how long it took, as long as he got out of the well once and for all, but he was happy that it was such a little amount of time for him to wait.

So they agreed to the deal, although Antoinette was already planning on a way to escape out of it.

"I would like to be able to call you something. Do you have a name?" Antoinette asked.

"Oh… I guess I used to… Yes, I remember! It was Oliver," the guardian of the well said.

"Alright then, Oliver. You can call me Master," Antoinette said.

"Alright, Master. But you should know, now that I have a physical form, I'll need to eat and sleep," Oliver explained.

"Does that mean you can die?" Antoinette asked.

"Well, no, but I get hungry," Oliver said.

"But you don't actually need to eat…" and then, when Oliver looked horrified, Antoinette laughed and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you starve."

After this, Antoinette headed home while Oliver went to find Antoinette's mother, to make Antoinette's wish a reality. He easily managed to convince Antoinette's mother to visit, by writing a letter asking her to come, ending with, 'from Antoinette'.

And that was the first of many wishes that Antoinette had in store for him.

* * *

><p>Oliver and Antoinette got used to their new lives quickly, but it was difficult to begin with. Oliver made himself invisible to everyone except Antoinette, so it was difficult to get Oliver food at first.<p>

Eventually, they decided that for breakfast and dinner, Antoinette would get food for Oliver secretly and feed him in her room. For lunch, they just went to the café in town where he made himself visible so that people wouldn't question the food disappearing.

People did, however, begin to notice the new boy hanging out with Antoinette. He managed to avoid people, learning from Antoinette how to be antisocial.

It had been a few days, and Oliver was still waiting for Antoinette to ask him to use his powers. Finally, when they were at one of Zephyr Town's many bazaars, Antoinette was passing by a stall when she stopped in front of it.

Her eye had been caught by a fashionable blue and white dress. Normally, when she found something she liked at the bazaar, she would just buy it herself, but this time, she turned to Oliver.

"I wish I had that dress," she said, causing the stall keeper to look at her curiously.

Oliver looked at the dress, taking in the details and then said, "We should go somewhere else. So no one will see." They sneaked away, and Oliver set to work. It looked as though thread and needles leapt from his fingers, working away on each other until he was holding a replica of the dress Antoinette wanted.

And from then on, Antoinette wished for many things. Oliver was reminded of the pointless wishes that he had made. As these days passed, Oliver realized just how long thirty years would take to pass, but after some thought, he was okay with it.

Although Antoinette wasn't the nicest person around, her company was better than no company at all.

* * *

><p>Antoinette had just sneaked some dinner upstairs and now Oliver was eating. Antoinette was looking at the dress she was wearing suspiciously.<p>

Antoinette decided it was time to bring up the question on her mind. "Can't you just conjure up some food for yourself like you did with my dress?"

"Technically, yes, I could, but there are certain limits to… I'll just explain this quickly." Oliver took Antoinette's hand. "Like with the ring I made for you. The gem set in it isn't a real ruby."

"So, it's like a synthetic gem?" Antoinette asked.

"…I don't know what that word means. And that's probably not what I mean. The ruby is just made of something that doesn't really exist here… let's just say it's made of stardust. It's the same with everything I create, so the food I create tastes awful. That's why, when making wishes come true, it's better not to use my powers. But sometimes I must," Oliver explained.

Antoinette looked down at the dress she was wearing. "So, I'm wearing a dress made of stardust," she said and then giggled.

* * *

><p>So far, Antoinette hadn't wished for anything too important, so they hadn't had too many problems. But one day, when they were at another bazaar, that changed.<p>

Antoinette was wearing the blue and white dress of her second wish, which she wore frequently now. She didn't think of what the consequences of wearing it at this bazaar might be until it was too late.

"Hey, you there!" a voice roared from behind them.

Antoinette and Oliver turned around to see someone charging up towards them, looking very angry. The person stopped a few paces away from them.

"I remember you," the person said, pointing to Antoinette. "You were the one hanging by my stall, eyeing the dress you're wearing now. I also remember never selling you one! I make those dresses myself, so there's only one place you could have gotten it. Did you steal from me?"

Oliver could tell that Antoinette was afraid, but she kept calm in this time of panic.

"No. I just liked the design so I thought I'd go home and make a dress similar. See, I screwed up on some parts of the sewing," Antoinette said, showing parts of the dress where Oliver had failed to create properly.

Oliver mentally slapped himself for this. But still, his mistakes had saved them. The stall keeper was angry but eventually calmed down and believed Antoinette.

They left the bazaar after that but Oliver had to ask as they walked away, "If I screwed up on so many things, why do you still wear that dress?"

"I like it," she said simply.


	15. GT4: What I Can't Stand

Golden Turnip #4: Spirit of the Well

Chapter 2: What I Can't Stand

* * *

><p>After the encounter with the stall keeper, Oliver thought Antoinette might be more careful with her wishes, but instead she became more adventurous with them.<p>

Of course, she didn't really wish for things. She would tell Oliver to do something and he would sneak around, changing things to the way she wanted them to be.

At first, Antoinette wanted simple, even nice, things. But then she started asking Oliver for more important things, things that would interfere with other people's lives.

But Oliver didn't feel too bothered by this. He didn't mind messing about with people.

Years passed and Antoinette had wished herself into a new life. She still lived in Zephyr Town, but in her own house and now she was a famous fashion designer. She had managed to do many things herself, but she always liked using Oliver's powers to get her way.

Now that Antoinette was exactly the same age that Oliver had been when he had become the guardian of the well, he looked at her differently.

She had done so much more than he had in such little time. Although this was partly because of the confidence Oliver had given her by having someone able to fulfill your every wish at a moment's notice.

Mostly, Antoinette wished for things sensibly. She didn't waste her time wishing for things like dragons (although sometimes she made Oliver conjure little items up that she studied, trying to work out what they were really made of) or to be ruler of the planet.

But eventually, she decided she wanted to test how far Oliver's powers could go.

"I wish I was Mayor of Zephyr Town," Antoinette murmured as she played with a design she was sketching out.

"Of course," Oliver said, and Antoinette smiled at how obediently he moved.

In a matter of months, Antoinette was the Mayor of Zephyr Town. It hadn't been easy, but they hadn't needed to cheat in the election, so Oliver felt no guilt.

The mayor's daughter was particularly shocked at Antoinette's sudden desire to become mayor. She had been friends with Antoinette, but for awhile they had been drifting apart.

Now they ignored one another.

After awhile, Antoinette decided Zephyr Town was too small a place to govern. She wanted the town to be a country of its own and for it to spread. So she wished for this.

Oliver didn't know exactly how to make this happen, so he resorted to using powers of his that he wasn't too keen on: controlling people's thoughts.

Soon enough, everyone in town had the same idea as Antoinette. Oliver left himself out of matters after this, hoping it would unravel as his master wanted.

Turning Zephyr Town into a country took a lot longer that getting Antoinette to be Mayor. But eventually, even this too came to pass. Oliver was surprised.

It occurred to him what important things he was changing, and yet the Harvest Goddess had not intervened once. She hadn't stopped him at any point so far. Perhaps something had happened to her. Maybe that's why she'd ignored him for all those years.

* * *

><p>"You're a monster!"<p>

Oliver returned to the moment, standing beside Antoinette, invisible to all but her. In front of them stood Sherry (previously known as the Mayor's daughter) and she was enraged by Antoinette's sudden tyrannical thirst for power.

Antoinette had wished for a castle, although Sherry was most disturbed by the thought of the dungeon Antoinette had requested.

"What happened to you? What happened to Zephyr Town?" Sherry asked.

"But Sherry, the dungeon is being built especially for your father," Antoinette said.

Sherry gasped. "You wouldn't… you monster!"

"Take her away!" Antoinette said and Oliver watched as Sherry was dragged away. In the last few years, Antoinette had changed even further. Now she acted like she was a rightful queen.

Oliver had watched as Zephyr Town had changed before his eyes. But what did that matter? He only noted how much closer he was to his freedom.

"It's fun having all this power but... I think it would be more fun if people could see you," Antoinette said. "They wouldn't question your presence. You would just be my precious servant who went everywhere with me."

"If that's what you want," Oliver said, obeying his master's command at once.

"Oh, but since everyone can see you…" Antoinette said. "Can you create a new outfit for yourself. I don't want you to stand next to me looking like that."

"If that's what you want," Oliver said.

* * *

><p>One year later, Antoinette was seated upon her throne, above her dungeon filled with innocent souls, gazing over her empire of wealth and pain. When Oliver had first talked to her, that day in the clearing, thoughts like these had run through her head.<p>

She hadn't believed that even a source of power like Oliver could make this reality, but now it was. And she knew it wasn't over yet.

"There's someone here to see you, Miss Antoinette," a messenger at the door said.

Sherry entered the room, looking as fearful and pale as she had looked after her father had been taken from her. Antoinette laughed as she approached her throne.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Antoinette asked.

"I… I came to give you this," Sherry said, handing Antoinette a letter that Antoinette tore open. After reading it, Antoinette laughed again.

"You have no power over me, Sherry. Don't even attempt something like this," Antoinette said, throwing the letter to the ground. Oliver was curious to what was written in the letter, but he left the letter alone, partly because he didn't want to upset Antoinette.

"I've heard there's someone in town you've had your eye on," Antoinette said, causing Sherry to stare at Antoinette in confusion. "Is his name Lloyd?"

"How do you know about him?" Sherry growled, back to her animated self.

"You can go now," Antoinette said, smirking at Sherry as she left the castle, defeated.

Oliver turned to Antoinette and immediately asked, "What are you going to do to Lloyd?"

"I keep Sherry's father in the dungeon so she has hope, but I want to take her hope away this time with Lloyd," Antoinette explained. "I don't want to have somebody killed, so how can I take Lloyd from Sherry permanently, but not too permanently?"

"You could marry him," Oliver said.

Antoinette flinched at the word, marry. She didn't know why, but she just didn't like the idea of… well, even talking to other people.

But as quickly as always did, she decided that this was the best plan. Before Antoinette could wish for something, Oliver interjected, "I can make people think things but I can't make them agree or disagree with those thoughts. They still decide what they think of these things themselves. So I can't make him fall in love with you."

Antoinette understood and set upon the difficult task of wooing Lloyd. The most difficult part was being nice. She had spent so much time being mean that it was strange.

Oliver helped by turning invisible and following Lloyd around, finding out more about him. Then he went and informed Antoinette what she should say and how she should act around Lloyd.

Skipping ahead a year, Antoinette was married to Lloyd and Sherry was on the point of giving up her plan to return Zephyr Town to its former state.

Oliver chose to forget everything that happened after that. He just listened to what Antoinette wanted, went out and made it a reality and returned to her. He didn't listen to anything else around him.

And then…

"You look the same."

It was Antoinette. Oliver hadn't been sure at first, because usually she just ordered him around. Now he stared at her, unsure of how to reply.

"You look exactly the same as you did when we first met," Antoinette said.

Oliver looked at Antoinette and realized how much time had really passed. She had only been an innocent child when they met. Now she was a tyrant. "You look so different," he said. Then he took note of the date.

"It's been thirty years, hasn't it? Since we made this deal," he said.

"I guess so," Antoinette said.

"We need to go to the well," Oliver said.

Antoinette turned back to Oliver and said, "You can't make me."

Oliver stood still for a moment, and from a look at Antoinette's eyes, he knew she had been waiting to say that for a long time.

"You tricked me!" he said.

"You were easy to trick," Antoinette said.

Oliver knew that pleading with Antoinette would get nowhere, after the countless of people she had thrown into the dungeon. He thought about using his powers to undo all that he had done but knew that was impossible. He didn't have enough power.

He was about to give up (maybe return to the well or help the people of Zephyr Town overthrow Antoinette), when he stopped planning and was captivated by awe like he had been long ago.

The Harvest Goddess stood before them, visible to them both in this case. She looked angry. The Harvest Goddess looked around the throne room and then back to Antoinette.

With a wave of her hand, things began to change. Reality seemed to fall apart around them and then piece itself back together.

Finally, it stopped. "Everything's the way it was the day before you made that deal with Antoinette," the Harvest Goddess said, pointing to Antoinette as she did so.

Oliver turned to see Antoinette as her younger self again. She didn't remember anything that had happened in that false future. Only Oliver and the Harvest Goddess remembered.

"We traveled back in time?" Oliver asked.

"That's a way to put it," the Harvest Goddess said. Oliver could already tell how different the Harvest Goddess was. She was older and wiser now.

When they'd first met, she'd been mischievous enough to trick Oliver into becoming the guardian of the well.

And now…

"You are free from your duty," the Harvest Goddess said. "I should've done that a long time ago. I should never have done that. But it doesn't matter now because nobody comes to that wishing well anyway."

And with that, the Harvest Goddess vanished. Oliver was human again, to his delight. He immediately began to wonder how he was going to deal with this. He finally noticed now that the Harvest Goddess had even changed his clothes back to the way they used to be.

"Who are you?" Antoinette asked, grimacing at Oliver's clothes.

Oliver was startled, having forgotten Antoinette was there. "I'm Oliver," he said.

"I'm Antoinette," Antoinette said.

"You should get home," Oliver said and Antoinette looked at Oliver strangely. She then nodded and set off towards Zephyr Town.

Oliver looked around and saw that he was by the old wishing well. He took one look at it and then set off after Antoinette.

* * *

><p>Oliver thought it would be difficult getting used to living in Zephyr Town in this new time, but he'd learnt a lot from Antoinette in that false future. Also, the inhabitants of Zephyr Town were friendly and helped him adjust.<p>

Oliver saw that Antoinette and Sherry were still friends at this time, so he decided that he'd keep an eye on Antoinette. Just to make sure she didn't become the girl she had in their false future.

Oliver was content with this new life. But he still felt guilty.

He headed to the wishing well in the middle of the forest, carrying with him some strawberries he'd bought at a bazaar. He threw one of the strawberries into the well and at once, the Harvest Goddess appeared before him.

"After all that's happened, you're still going to come back here? Haven't you learnt not to ask for too much?" the Harvest Goddess snapped.

"I didn't come to ask for anything. I came to talk to you," Oliver said.

The Harvest Goddess said nothing, letting her surprise fade away.

And each day, Oliver returned to the well to talk to the Harvest Goddess. He never stayed for too long and they only talked about ordinary things but it made the Harvest Goddess's a little happier every day.

THE END.

* * *

><p>Golden Turnip #4 is The Tale of The Fisherman and His Wife, although it was inspired by the Frog King.<p>

My comment on this story: I almost made the Harvest Goddess say that she shipped OliverxAntoinette at one point, but decided against it.


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